Leh: Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Brigadier (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd) held a meeting with concerned officials and stakeholders at the Lieutenant Governor’s Secretariat to discuss the promotion of pashmina wool and products made of pashmina wool.
At the outset, the LG the other day emphasised the promotion of pashmina in the Changthang area and the need to address all issues arising at every step, from the rearing of pashmina goats, shearing and dehairing of wool up to the sale of pashmina wool-made products in the market.
He stated that pashmina goat herders must get full benefits from pashmina practices and asked the concerned officials to provide relevant training to those who can help promote pashmina in Ladakh.
It was informed in the meeting that around 45 metric tons of raw pashmina wool is produced annually, out of which 9 metric tons of fine dehaired wool is obtained after the dehairing process.
It was also informed that Ladakhi pashmina, which recently got the GI tagging, is among the finest pashmina wool in the world at 12 microns.
There were deliberations on the need for standard operating procedure (SOP) to make dehairing plant sustainable, the need to give impetus to use fine pashmina wool in Ladakh itself after the required value addition, assisting self-help groups (SHGs)/societies and procuring equipment/machineries for them, the need to tackle operation and maintenance (O&M) issues of Common Facilitation Centres (CFC) and the establishment of yarn banks. There was consensus among the attendees to make Ladakh’s pashmina a brand.
Principal Secretary Sanjeev Khirwar, IAS, highlighted the need to focus on marketing and not just on production and to teach the younger generation about the importance of marketing and branding pashmina through capacity-building training to keep them engaged in this field.
The LG asked the concerned officials to identify stakeholders at different stages, provide relevant training and equipment/machines, and coordinate with them to promote pashmina.
He also asked Principal Secretary Sanjeev Khirwar to prepare a flow chart with a list of responsibilities at different stages of refining and making products out of pashmina wool.
He also highlighted the need to increase the number of pashmina goats in Ladakh and the steps required to keep the younger generation engaged in this field.
Chief Secretary, Dr Pawan Kotwal, IAS; Principal Secretary, Sanjeev Khirwar, IAS; Commissioner, Secretary to the LG, Dr L Franklin, IAS; Deputy Commissioner, Leh, Santosh Sukhadeve, IAS; Director, Industries and Commerce, Mohd Ashraf Bhat, JKAS; President, All Changthang Pashmina Growers Marketing Cooperative Society (ACPGCMS), Lonpo Dorjey; Secretary, ACPGCMS, Thinles Nurboo and other government officials were present in the meeting.
