Jaipur, Oct 30:

  Miss India 2014 Koyal Rana walked the ramp here in the first-ever showcase of designer garments by rural women of Rajasthan who were part of Hindustan Zinc’s rural women empowerment project “Sakhi”.

Besides top fashion designers of the country, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria and Women and Child Development Minister Anita Bhadel, were among the dignitaries who attended the event held at Hotel Clarks Amer on Wednesday.

“I have walked the ramp for so many designers but have not seen creations like these. These creations are at par with designs made by renowned designers,” Rana said in admiration of the creations by the rural women.

Fashion designer Jattinn Kochhar had an interactive session with the women designers.

Under the Project “Sakhi”, 50 rural women of villages of Gagwana and Kayad in the district of Ajmer had been working for almost two months to make the designer garments including sarees, salwar kurtas, kurtis, kaftans and school uniforms.

Training in this regard was provided to these rural women, most of whom are educated, as part of the development of “Sakhi” product cluster on fashion garments, an official statement said.

Hindustan Zinc, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources, a leading global mining company, has been engaged in empowerment of rural and tribal women of Rajasthan since 2006 through formation of self-help-groups, now popularly known as “Sakhi”.

The event also showcased a sequence of 12 uniforms with different combinations and textures.

Akhilesh Joshi, president, Zinc Business, Vedanta group informed that Sakhi is making school uniforms and schools can approach these rural women for making their school uniforms for a better price.

Fashion designers Jattinn Kochhar, Rajdeep Ranawat, Gaurav Gupta and Anand Bhushan who attended the show said they were mesmerised by the garments made by the rural women.(IANS)