Union Minister for Rextiles Giriraj Singh said on Sunday that GI tagging of Ladakh’s Pashmina wool would prevent its exploitation by the Kashmiri traders who were promoting it as their own product.

The Union minister handed over the Certificate of Geographical Indication (GI) Registration of Pashmina Wool of Ladakh to the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Brigadier (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd) at a function in Leh.

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He said the “GI tagging of Ladakh’s Pashmina wool, also known as Soft Gold – which the people of Kashmir have hitherto misused by promoting it as their own, will prove beneficial to the people of the region, particularly the pashmina herders”.
He emphasised the importance of increasing the production of pashmina wool in Ladakh to ensure better income for pashmina goat herders and highlighted the need to encourage stall feeding of pashmina and merino sheep by engaging women to boost their source of income. He commended the efforts being made by the UT Administration headed by the Lieutenant Governor to reduce the mortality rate of pashmina goat kids.

Giriraj Singh thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for creating the separate Union Territory of Ladakh after the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir due to which the region has developed its own identity and has given opportunity to Ladakh to showcase its unique products such as Pashmina, Seabuckthorn and apricots nationally and internationally.

He made several suggestions, including sending a proposal to the Ministry to set up Pashmina breeding farms at Leh and Kargil, conducting artificial insemination and stopping in-breeding of sheep; preparing a project on select breeding; conducting competition among farmers on best practices and providing incentives to them; conducting lab test of pashmina goat milk to check available nutrients; conducting exposure visit of Director of Animal and Sheep Husbandry to get first-hand experience of best practices and preparing feed pellets from stocked fodder, etc. He assured to provide all possible assistance in this regard.

Lt. Governor, Brigadier (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd), while terming the GI registration of Pashmina wool of UT Ladakh as historic, stated that the authenticity and assurance of best quality pashmina wool was missing until now due to the sale of products made of fake and inferior quality Pashmina wool. He sought the Ministry’s cooperation in the growth and promotion of Pashmina in Ladakh. He also highlighted the need to take the initiative to attract youth to the traditional practice of Pashmina goat herding.