MP Lahar Singh Siroya pushes for ‘Crafts Village’ near Channapatna

MP Lahar Singh Siroya advocates for a 'Crafts Village' near Channapatna to preserve its iconic wooden toy heritage.

Lahar Singh Siroya, MP in Rajya Sabha, urged setting up a ‘Crafts Village’ (Shilpa Gram) near Channapatna to support, preserve, and promote the globally renowned, GI-tagged Channapatna wooden toys.

“The Bangalore-Mysuru express highway has disturbed their heritage and trade ecosystem for a while now,” he added while raising the issue in the Rajya Sabha. .

Iconic, globally recognised traditions like the GI-tagged Channapatna wooden toys and regional culinary heritage are seeing business drop by as much as 70-80%, he said.

“The construction of world-class roads must not unintentionally destroy the vibrant economic and cultural fabric of our smaller towns. I had raised this concern earlier also. However, the situation of our artisans remains largely unchanged,” he said.

He said that the Karnataka government needs to allocate a small parcel of land, and the rest will follow automatically. “I have spoken to local artisan groups and also with authorities concerned in the Union government”. He urged Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to positively respond to this idea as it falls in his home district.