SIVASAGAR: A wind of joy has flown across the LGBTQIA community people in Sivasagar with the new initiative of Nabard Assam Regional Office. With an objective of providing livelihood with dignity for the LGBTQIA community people, Nabard Assam Regional Office has started a skill development programme on Kantha Stitching & Embroidery in Sivasagar. The programme is a unique one and first such initiative of Nabard in the State of Assam.
Kantha is a centuries-old tradition of stitching patchwork cloth from rags, which evolved from the thrift of rural women in the Bengali region of the sub-continent, today the eastern Indian states of West Bengal and Odisha, and Bangladesh. One of the oldest forms of embroidery originating from India, its origin can be traced back to the pre-Vedic age (prior to 1500 BCE). “Kantha” refers to both the style of running stitch, as well as the finished cloth. It was a craft that was practised by women of all rural classes. The rich landlord’s wife making her own elaborate embroidered quilt in her leisure time and the tenant farmer’s wife making her own thrifty coverlet, equal in beauty and skill.
The programme was inaugurated on October 5 by Naveen Dhingra, Chief General Manager, NABARD Assam RO and since then the programme has been widely acknowledged and appreciated by all sections of the society.
The programme is being implemented by Surujmukhi NGO (a Dibrugarh based NGO) and shall provide intensive training on Kantha Stitching to 30 beneficiaries of LGBTQIA community, informed Monuj Dutta, Secretary, Surujmukhi NGO, Chakalia, Sepon.
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