Chamba: Earning livelihood through traditional craft

Balkrishan Prashar

Chamba, February 26

Chamba district is home to rich heritage of traditional crafts with many craftspersons are earning their livelihood through the businesses related to Chamba ‘rumal’, miniature painting, sculpture, wood art, Chamba ‘chappal’ and Chamba ‘thaal’.

Project ‘Chambyal’

• The district administration has launched a project named ‘Chambyal’ to preserve and promote rich art and culture of Chamba
• The administration has registered various art and craft societies to give practical shape to the project
• Chamba ‘rumal’ and Chamba ‘chappal’ have received the “GI” tag under the GI Act 1999
• Self-help groups formed under the National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM are exhibiting their products at various festivals, fairs and district-level programs

To preserve and promote rich art and culture of Chamba, the district administration has launched a project named “Chambyal”, which has registered various art and craft societies to give practical shape to the project.

Famous art products of the district Chamba ‘rumal’ and Chamba ‘chappal’ have received the “GI” tag under the GI Act 1999. The Chamba ‘chappal’ is available for sale on e-commerce platforms like Flipkart and Amazon.

Reena Kumari and Rekha Devi from Bairawali Mata, a self-help group formed under the National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM), along with Vinod Kumar from Nav Drishti self-help group are empowering their livelihood with Chamba ‘chappal’ by exhibiting their products at various festivals, fairs and district-level programs.

Reena, a member of Bairawali Mata self-help group (SHG), says that their group has been formed by the municipal council Chamba under the NULM. They have nine members in the group who together make Chamba ‘chappals’, embroidering these with hand-made silk threads.

“Recently, we took a loan of Rs 5 lakh at low interest rate apart from a revolving fund of Rs 10,000 to the SHG under the mission (NULM)”, reveals Reena.

Vinod Kumar from the Nav Drishti, a self-help group, says that they have been working in this group for the past one year and are being supported by the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) from time to time.

District Manager of National Urban Livelihood Mission, Ruchi Mahajan, says that 180 self-help groups are currently working in Chamba district under the mission, which includes 10 area-level federations and one cluster-level federation.

The Bairawali Mata self-help group is a group of eight to 10 women who are doing excellent work by embroidering Chamba ‘chappal’. The embroidery done on Chamba ‘chappals’ has become very popular among tourists visiting the area, and it is being appreciated all over the country.

Since the sale of Chamba ‘chappal’ has been done online, their demand has increased and the self-help groups are benefiting greatly from it.