Union Cabinet Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani trended through the day yesterday with a new initiative: promoting and encouraging weavers by sharing a picture wearing a handloom outfit. The minister shared a picture of herself dressed in a handwoven silk sari from Bihar, hashtagged #IWearHandloom.

She urged people to follow suit and share pictures of themselves in handloom textiles, tagging five others.  "Indian handlooms symbolise India's heritage & culture. Wear it to carry on our rich tradition and support 43 lakh weavers & their families," Irani tweeted, before sharing her photo.


She tagged Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi.


At the time of writing this, the tweet has got over 7000 likes. Kiran Bedi and Fadnavis tweeted their pictures in handloom followed by a host of other celebrities and non celebrities.