Craft items, paintings by kids on sale at Gita Mahotsav

Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, December 10

For the first time, the paintings and craft items prepared by the children living in Child Care Institutions (CCI), observation homes, and women in Nari Niketan in 11 districts of the state have been brought and put up for sale at the International Gita Mahotsav.

As per the information, nearly 450 items ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 10,000 have been put up for sale. The stall has been set up by the Women and Child Development Department, Haryana.

Craft items, paintings, sketches, woolen clothes, cushions, flowerpots, and other items prepared by the children have been attracting many buyers. As per the department, different items worth over Rs 18,000 have already been sold so far, and some buyers have also placed demands for more products.

The items have been collected from Yamunanagar, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Sonepat, Jhajjar, Jind, Rewari, Panipat, Faridabad, and Panchkula.

A team of eight officials from three districts such as Kurukshetra, Karnal and Yamunanagar have been deployed for the management of the stall and sales.

District Child Protection Officer, Karnal, Reena, said, “Items prepared by the children have been brought for the first time and we have received a good response. The youngest child whose painting is brought is just 5-year-old. A record of each and every item being sold is maintained, and the amount of the item will be deposited into the account of the child who had created it.”

Protection Officer, Karnal, Suman, said, “The children at CCIs are very talented and intelligent. Since the children are not here, so when someone buys an item, we get their picture with the item and send it to the official at the CCI and then the child is informed about the same. The children are very happy and they have started preparing more items.”

Gurpreet Singh, working on the post of social worker, said besides the Child care institutions, crafts and paintings prepared by juveniles at observation homes, and women at Nari Niketan have also been brought.

The Joint Director of Women And Child Development Department, Raj Bala Kataria, said, “The department used to set up its stall at different exhibitions, and visitors used to appreciate the talent so we decided to set up a stall at the mahotsav. The objective of the initiative is to boost the confidence of children and provide their art a platform so that they can also start their own venture after they leave the CCIs.”