NEW DELHI: Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday gave a call for "swadeshi" asking people to buy indigenous products to give a boost to work of artisans and craftsmen from the minorities and tribal communities.

“The ministries of commerce, tribal affairs and minority affairs have to work like a triangle with the ministry of external affairs at the centre to build a global market for our ‘swadeshi products’. There can be no bigger tribute to Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi) at a time we are celebrating 150 years of his birth anniversary,” Goyal said adding that the government will be exploring e-commerce linkages to create a market for the indigenous products.

The commerce ministry along with tribal and minority affairs plans to work in tandem with support from the foreign ministry to create an international market for "swadeshi" products.

Goyal was speaking at the inauguration of ‘Hunar Haat’ that has brought artisans and craftsmen from minority communities from across the states to the lawns of Rajpath to showcase and sell their products at 250 stalls.

Flanked by minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Rajya Sabha MP and Indian Council for Cultural Relations president Vinay Sahasrabhuddhe, Goyal’s statement was significant as it came a day before the brainstorming session being organised by the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) in Delhi.

The commerce minister along with tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda are scheduled to meet representatives from CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM to discuss ways to link grassroots level tribal forest produce gatherers to the larger market and big retail chains.

Friday’s meeting comes after a series of consultations held in the backdrop of a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January where he directing the concerned ministries to build a global market for products made by tribals and branding them with quality standards.

Meanwhile, the ‘hunar haat’ will be on till February 23. This is the 20th such ‘haat’ since the first one organised in 2016 by the ministry of minority affairs.

