On his first visit to Varanasi, his constituency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch for re-establishing the district’s traditional textile industry and placing it on the global map.

Modi said that the Government was working towards revitalising the textile sector through a scientific approach, coupled with infusion of appropriate technology.

The Prime Minister, who is on a two-day visit to Varanasi, was speaking on Friday after laying the foundation stone of the Trade Facilitation Centre and Crafts Museum, and inaugurating the Powerloom Service Centre, according to an official release.

Calling upon the textile industry to adapt to the changing demands and needs of customers and create new products, he said the Centre would encapsulate the heritage of Varanasi at one place. Modi also called upon the people of Varanasi to use e-commerce and strategically tap the global market.

“Every mother wants to gift a Banarasi saree to her daughter for her wedding,” he said, adding that this gave an assured market of crores of sarees for Varanasi. “The requirement now is to meet this demand and satisfy the customer with modern design, products and service.”

Revival package for banks

He said the Government's recent decision for a Rs 2,375-crore revival package for district cooperative banks, of which 16 are in eastern Uttar Pradesh, would ensure easy availability of credit to the lower and middle-class and help revive the handloom and powerloom sectors.

Invoking the "Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb" (symbolising communal harmony) as Varanasi's heritage, Modi said “textile workers weave not just cloth; but through the harmonious nature of their workplace, they also weave the fabric of a cohesive, harmonious society.”

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