SHILLONG, Feb 17: The Department of Textiles, Meghalaya, has won a special award under the Textiles Sustainability Awards by the Confederation of Indian Textile Industries (CITI) for its outstanding efforts in reviving textile heritage.
The award was presented during the Bharat Tex 2025 Global Textiles Expo held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.
Frederick Roy Kharkongor, Principal Secretary of Meghalaya Textiles Department, received the award from Union Minister of State for Textiles Pabitra Margherita. Senior officials of the Ministry of Textiles and CITI representatives were also present.
According to CITI, the jury was highly impressed by Meghalaya’s initiatives in preserving and promoting indigenous textile traditions.
The award, part of CITI-Alekh’s Textile Heritage Reviver category, honours individuals and organizations working towards sustainability, innovation, and community empowerment in the textile sector.
The event also featured a presentation of best practices by awardees and “Earthloom – Threads of Heritage,” a fashion showcase highlighting India’s sustainable weaves with designers from across the country, including Meghalaya.
Since 2019, the Textiles Department of Meghalaya has undertaken a series of initiatives to promote its indigenous textiles.
The initiatives included declaring Umden-Diwon village in Ri-Bhoi district as the state’s first ERI Silk Village in 2021, establishing the Design Innovation Research Centre in 2022, showcasing the entire Ryndia silk production process, developing the Ryndia brand and working towards its Geographical Indication tag, launching an e-portal on Ryndia and setting up an Eri Corner at Megh Tex, supporting Eri silk farmers through the Silk Samagra programme, developing the upcoming Integrated Textile Tourism Project in Nongpoh and training artisans, documenting weaves through Woven Narratives, and showcasing Meghalaya’s textiles at international events like Dubai Expo, Silk in Lyon (France), G20 Craft Bazaar (Italy), and Bharat Tex Global Expo 2024.
