Bengaluru, Feb 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stressed on e-marketing of world-famous Channapatna toys and said a meeting of start-ups of Bengaluru will be convened to explore the possibilities of taking Karnataka’s traditional toys to the corners of World.
Interacting with a group of toy makers of Channapatna in Ramanagara district during the virtual inauguration of ‘India Toy Fair’ in New Delhi this morning, the PM went down the memory lane, remembering his childhood days, after he heard names of a few toys. “By mentioning the names of toys, you are making me to go back to my days as a child playing with certain toys,” he said.
The toy makers told the PM that Channapatna, is popularly known as ‘Gombegala Nagara’ (City of Toys), for manufacturing varieties of toys, which is most sought after worldwide.
These toys have a history of over two centuries and as many as 2,000 artisans are involved in it. While 80 percent of workforce is men, 20 percent are women. The toys are made out of the locally available ‘Hale Mara’ (Soft ivory wood), cut and seasoned before coating with lacquer which is made from vegetable dyes. They will manufacture toys, abacus, dice, spinning tops and other small toys.
Mr Modi sought to know how big the toy cluster in Channapatna was and how many people were working in it. He was explained that over 2,000 artisans were involved and there were two training Centres. The PM was also told that they required the Government’s support for opening new centres as more people were getting into this business.
The toy makers replied in negative when Mr Modi asked whether they know about Bengaluru being called as start-ups capital and IT/BT hub of India with the pool of talents. The PM advised them to bring those professionals to Channapatna Training Centres to seek their help on latest innovation so as to make the Channapatna toys reach length and breadth of the world.
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