Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called upon Channapatna toymakers to explore the possibility of e-marketing their traditional wares across the country and the world.
Interacting with a group of artisans from Channapatna while virtually inaugurating the India Toy Fair 2021 in New Delhi on Saturday, Mr. Modi suggested that artisans make use of the advanced technology to popularise the toys across the world and use the information technology (IT) workforce available in Bengaluru for the purpose.
He hoped the Government of Karnataka held a workshop bringing together IT professionals and start-ups from Bengaluru and artisans to come up with a new project to popularise Channapatna toys not only across India, but across the globe.
Mr. Modi also stressed on the need for innovation in the toys. During the interaction with the artisans, he asked those from Channapatna if they held any competitions on innovation in their industry. When an artisan replied in the affirmative and said a Hanuman toy made by an artisan had bagged a prize in the competition on innovation, Mr. Modi did not appear impressed.
“Hanuman is not new,” Mr. Modi remarked and told the artisans that innovation and novelty was crucial for the toy industry from Channapatna to reach different parts of the world. He also asked them if they made efforts to find out from parents the kind of toys their children would like.
Earlier, the artisans from Channapatna displayed a set of toys, including an abacus and a plane, to which Mr. Modi said he was being reminded of his childhood.
The artisans said about 2,000 of them engaged in the Channapatna toy industry, which had a history of over 200 years old. The artisans pointed out that they used only vegetable dyes that were free from chemicals in the manufacture of the toys.
It may be recalled here that Mr. Modi, in his Mann Ki Baat programme in August last year, had called for popularising the indigenous toys, including Channapatna toys.
