Ladakh: KVIC adopts four villages for rural employment generation

By India Education Diary Bureau Admin On Mar 8, 2020

Khadi and Village Industry Commission (KVIC) in consultations with the Hill Council has adopted four villages in newly curved Ladakh Union Territory for rural employment generation.

Likir is one of the adopted Village where KVIC has set up three centers for women self help groups to train in spinning of wool in new model of Charkha and pottery in electric pottery machines. The village was adopted in 2018.

KVIC officer said one round of training for spinning was conducted in October last year and second one is scheduled from March 26 this year. He also said, to strengthen the centre, KVIC will facilitate the women self help group in marketing of the products. Pottery is traditional skill of Likir village.

Likir is the only supplier to fullfil the demand of pottery, in entire old Ladakh. With the arrival of cheap plastic, art of pottery lost its charm, thereby losing the village’s employment.

Once occupation of entire village now restricted to just three or four households. Women Self Groups have revived the dying traditional skills of the village. They learnt the pottery skills, which used to be once men’s occupation.

Tsering Dolma said, for few years we were given sensitization workshop on traditional skills and how it can turned into a source of livelihood, yet remaining at home. Ladakh Women Alliance Founder Helena and Dolma Tsering visited the village and given awareness on traditional skills few years ago.

Last year, Khadi and Village Industries Commission reached the village and provided training to the President of the self help group and their mentor in electric pottery machines, in Ahmedabad.

Tsering Dolma says learning the male tradional skills empower women financially, as they are earning a minimum of ten thousand per month by working only 3 to 4 hours a day, in two seasons Spring and Summer. By working in groups, she said women are remained contended socially , emotionally and culturally by exchanging laughing and talking together.