Pact with Ahmedabad NID to boost design expertise in state

SHILLONG, Sep 5: In a way to harness the power of design thinking and innovation, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Thursday between the state-owned Meghalayan Age Limited (MAL) and National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, which is under the aegis of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
This strategic partnership aims to establish a collaborative framework between NID and MAL to leverage design thinking and innovation and design expertise.
The MoU was signed between Dr Vijay Kumar D, Commissioner and Secretary, Planning, Investment Promotion, and Sustainable Development Department (PIDSD) and Chairman and Managing Director, Meghalayan Age Limited, with Praveen Nahar, Director of National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad.
Addressing the meeting, Dr Vijay Kumar D said that through this MoU, the state government ocuses on three priorities , namely development of Meghalaya State Design Policy Framework, development of the Institutional Framework for Meghalaya Design Lab, and establishment of Shillong as UNESCO’s leading ‘Design City’.
Moreover, the MoU also entails on implementation of design thinking and innovation workshops, facilitation of exposure visits for Meghalaya’s stakeholders/artisans/craftsmen from the handicraft/handloom community to NID and other craft and design institutes based out of different region of Gujarat and development of few clusters in Meghalaya related to Bamboo Handicrafts subjected on the availability of NID’s faculty resources, time, and other institutional priorities.
The period of the MoU will be for three years marking a significant step towards establishing Meghalaya as a hub for design-led development.