Namda Art

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Context

• The first batch of Namda Art products was exported to UK on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day.
• This dying art of Jammu and Kashmir was revived by promoting it under Skill India’s pilot project.

Other Details

• MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar, of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and IT, flagged of the export.
• Under this, an industry-based pilot training program, around 2,200 candidates belonging to six districts of the region were trained.
• This project was a part of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana.

Significance of this project

• It is a successful example of a public-private partnership which paved the way for more such partnerships in other projects.
• It will promote skilling, reskilling, and upskilling of Indian youths hence leading to their prosperity.
• It will lead to protection and preserving of this traditional craft of the Jammu and Kashmir region.
• It will support the local economy and will empower the local weavers and artisans by creating new opportunities for employment.

Namda craft

• It is traditional Kraft of Kashmir which involves making a rug which is primarily made of pure sheep wool.
• It is different from regular rug as instead of using normal weaving process, felting technique is used. Hence no weaving is involved in this process.
  • Namda means a layer above a regular rug made of old blankets.
• This art is believed to be invented in 11th century by Nomadic tribes of the Central Asian steppes.
• In India the use of this art started from the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar.
• It is under process to get a GI tag certification.

Trigger Point for Conservation

• During 1998 and 2008 the export declined almost 100 percent.
• The possible reasons are –
  • Low availability of raw material.
  • Lack of skilled manpower.
  • Inefficient and inadequate Marketing techniques.
  • Minimal use of new techniques and technology.

Process

• First the sheep wool is washed using soap and water.
• Then the fibre, wool, is spread on floor in layers for washing, pressuring (using a tool named pinjra) to flatten it and for drying.
• Next it is either dyed metre by meter OR is decorated with an embroidery pattern.
• Thread is then assembled for use and complex local floral patterns are created using Kashmiri aari embroidery techniques.

Must Read Article:

Skill India

https://www.iasgyan.in/rstv/perspective-skill-india

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana

https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/economics

GI Certification

https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/gi-tags 

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/how-american-bald-eagle-returned-from-brink-of-extinction-8691059/