Mysore Haat to be boon for artisans

MYSORE: It’s something Karnataka hasn’t seen before. It promises to eliminate the middleman in the artisan-end user route. It could well put Mysore on the international tourist�s itinerary. A Mysore Urban Haat, to be designed on the lines of Dilli Haat, is being planned in this City of Palaces.
JSS Mahavidyapeetha is implementing the Rs 2-crore project with assistance from the Union textiles ministry and the Karnataka industries and commerce department.The project is expected to take off in the second week of December. Union textiles minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain will lay the foundation stone. The project is expected to be completed in a year. The Mahavidyapeetha has earmarked five acres of land for the Haat at the Hebbal Industrial Area. The Haat will have a total constructed area of 2,470 square metres.
The Mahavidyapeetha, which has been working on the project for the past three years, hit upon the idea while conducting research for a US-based NGO. Mahavidyapeetha director (technical) Dhananjaya told Sunday Times of India that the textiles ministry had agreed in principle to provide Rs 1.4 crore. A committee will be constituted to manage the Haat.
Mahavidyapeetha president and Suttur Math seer Shivaratri Deshikendra Swami will head it. N. Shekar, chief executive of the Mahavidyapeetha’s Nodal Centre for Entrepreneurship and Management Development, says preference will be given to artisans from outside Karnataka. It will provide an opportunity to identify the tastes and preferences international. “They will get vital exposure to a larger market,� Shekar said. The initial deficit will be borne by the Mahavidyapeetha during the implementation phase. Once the Haat begins earning, the surplus will be deposited in a corpus fund that will be used to develop it.
The Haat will eventually be developed into a tourist and marketing centre. The Mahavidyapeetha will let artisans stay at the Haat to provide them global exposure. An Export Guidance and Counselling Cell will be set up to identify importers.