Srinagar: The Quality Control Division of Handicrafts and Handloom conducted a special inspection drive of handicrafts dealers in the tourist areas in order to reduce the threat of passing on fake handicrafts in place of genuine art and craft.
According to a statement, during the course of the inspection, the handicraft dealers found violating the norms of the said acts were penalised and an amount of Rs 43000 was realised as a fine from the erring dealers.
The dealers were strictly warned to desist from the sale of fake machine-made lookalikes of Kashmir art products and advised to affix tags depicting price and composition on each item displayed for sale.
They were strictly warned to refrain from any kind of malpractice such as touting and impersonation, which carries huge penalties under the said acts, the statement states.
It adds that dealers were also apprised about the benefits of the GI tagging on the notified Kashmir Crafts, and the impact of such tagging in building the brand image of Kashmir Arts products. The certification and authenticity will also help in eradicating the menace of machine-made and misbranding of Kashmir art products. The Handicraft dealers and other stakeholders are accordingly advised to play their role in promoting the GI tagging on the notified Kashmir Crafts.