In pursuance of the recommendations of the conference of State Ministers of Handloom and Sericulture of the North-Eastern States and Sikkim, held in September last at Guwahati, the Government of India has decided to upgrade the Weavers’ Service Centre, Guwahati as the Regional Design Centre for the entire North-East region with immediate effect, an official release said. Henceforth, besides functioning as Regional Design Centre, the Weavers’ Service Centre, Guwahati will continue to function as zonal office for the weavers’ service centres located in the eastern region at Bhagalpur, Calcutta Imphal, Agartala and Bhubaneswar.

Now, the Guwahati Centre will function as the model centre for design development and dissemination of designs in the north-eastern region so that the handloom weavers in the region may be provided designs suitable for domestic as well as export markets. 

For this purpose the Regional Design Centre will prepare a website and museum of designs of the north-eastern region. The Centre will be linked with the National Centre for Textile Design (NCTD) to develop designs as per the demands of the National and International markets in terms of colour choice and fabric structure, colour combination and eco-friendly dyes. The Centre will assist other agencies working for the handloom sectors of Assam like the UNDP in Sualkuchi and will also prepare a comprehensive list of eminent designers from all over India suitable and willing to work in the NE region. Moreover, the RDC will function as a nodal Centre for planning and co-ordinating the training programmes of handloom weavers and designers in the region.