Arifa lauds Modi’s gesture, says will now work harder
*Ladakh woman too gets award from Prez
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Mar 8: In a rare gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today handed over his social media accounts on various platforms including twitter to seven women achievers from different fields including one from Kashmir to share their life journeys and messages on the International Women’s Day.
As the Prime Minister launched “She Inspires Us’’ campaign to honour inspiring women, Arifa Jan from Kashmir was among seven women who took over the Prime Minister’s accounts to share life stories with everyone. Arifa, an artisan from the Valley is working extensively on pashmina, numdha and embroidery to save the dying craft.
Sharing her first business activity which was participating in an exhibition of handmade items in New Delhi, Arifa said her exhibits attracted good clientele and a turnover. She said her products were designed to suit the modern-day market. Click here to watch video
“Your (the Prime Minister’s) gesture has boosted my morale and it will help me to work harder for betterment of craft as well as the artisans all over Kashmir,’’ Arifa said but added that snapping of Internet services in the Valley last year hit the artisans. However, she hoped it will be alright soon.
Besides Arifa, Nilza Wangmo of Leh district in the Union Territory of Ladakh was also awarded by President Ram Nath Kovind with ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar’ along with other women.
Nilza is an entrepreneur running Alchi Kitchen Restaurant, which is the first one to serve traditional Ladakhi cuisines including some exquisite and forgotten recipes. She has trained 20 women from remote areas of Ladakh who manage the restaurant. She has travelled and represented Ladakhi recipes in 5 Star Hotels in India.
Nilza has been involved in charitable works with People’s Action Group for Inclusion and Rights, a movement to create prejudice free society and sponsored girls’ education. Despite having lost her father before her birth and dropping out of college due to financial constraints, Nilza is a success restaurateur representing Ladakhi recipes at pan India level. Her restaurant is sponsored by Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute.
Arifa Jan said she always dreamt of reviving the traditional crafts of Kashmir as means to empower local women.
“I saw the condition of women artisans and so I began working to revive Numdha craft,” she said and claimed that the craft is a coming together of tradition and modernity.
“When tradition meets modernity, wonders can happen. I experienced this in my work. Moreover, the gesture by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has boosted my morale and it will help me to work harder for betterment of craft as well as the artisans all over Kashmir. I feel it is important for more women to focus on becoming self-reliant and help other women,’’ Arifa wrote using social media account of Modi on twitter.
Arifa said she worked on total of 15 projects including revival of pashmina.
“I worked not for myself but for the artisan community and to save the dying craft. While 28 women joined pashmina scheme, 25 were working on embroidery and 15 on numdha,” Arifa said and described her meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind and the Prime Minister as “very rare opportunity”.
Arifa is the founder of Numdha Handicrafts and responsible for reviving the lost art of numdha handicrafts. She has trained more than 100 women in Kashmir and employed 25 Kashmiri craft people. She increased wages of her employees from Rs 174 to Rs 450.
Despite financial constraints and criticized for being a female entrepreneur, she has actively promoted new designs of numdhas. She was conferred outstanding achievement in revival of felting craft of Kashmir by Choudhary Group of Industries, a leading business house in Kashmir in 2013, Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 and S-E-A Award in an event organized by Coca Cola and Jagrati Yatra at Mumbai in 2018.
The Prime Minister later said that the ‘Nari Shakti Award’ winners have made great contribution in building the society and inspiring the nation.
“The country couldn’t have achieved the open defecation free status without significant contribution from women. Similarly, malnutrition issue can also be resolved with greater women participation,’’ Modi said.
He also touched upon the issue of water conservation and highlighted that the Jal Jeevan Mission needs a greater participation of women. He congratulated the achievers and said that they are a source of inspiration to the whole community.
PTI adds: Known for his imaginative communication initiatives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed over his accounts on platforms like Twitter and Facebook to seven women, saying they have done great work in a wide range of sectors and their struggles and aspirations motivate millions.
“As I’d said a few days ago, I’m signing off. Through the day, seven women achievers will share their life journeys and perhaps interact with you through my social media accounts. Let us keep celebrating the achievements of such women and learning from them,” he said in his tweets.
The seven women were drawn from different parts of the country and came from varied backgrounds.
The Prime Minister’s outreach to women with the innovative exercise drew praise from the BJP with its president J P Nadda saying that the Modi Government has not only empowered women but has also brought to fore their glorious works.
The world will take inspiration from these seven women, he said.
The women chosen to use Modi’s accounts included Sneha Mohandoss, who works to eradicate hunger, Malvika Iyer, who survived a gruesome bomb blast that blew off her hands and damaged her legs when she was 13 and is now a motivational speaker, disability activist and model, and Arifa Jan from Kashmir who promotes traditional crafts of Kashmir.
Others were Kalpana Ramesh, a water conservator, Vijaya Pawar, who promotes handicrafts from the Banjara community of rural Maharashtra, Kalavati Devi of Kanpur, who collects money to build toilets, and Veena Devi, who is from Munger in Bihar and made her name by growing mushrooms under her bed due to lack of space.
“Where there is a will, there is a way. Anything can be achieved with willpower. My real recognition came from cultivating one kilo of mushrooms under bed. This not only made me self-sufficient but also gave me a new life by boosting my self-confidence,” said Veena Devi, who now trains other women.
“I feel empowered when I do what I’m passionate about! I wish to inspire my fellow citizens, especially women to come forward and join hands with me. I urge everyone to feed at least one needy person and contribute to a hunger free planet,” Mohandoss tweeted from Modi’s handle.
While sharing their stories and messages from Modi’s personal handle, these women also responded to some of the message they received.
“It is a fantastic way to throw light on ordinary woman wanting to accomplish extraordinary work,” Kalpana Ramesh said when a Twitter user registered her appreciation of the entire exercise.
The Prime Minister is one of the most-followed world leaders on social media with 53.3 million followers on Twitter, 44 million on Facebook and 35.2 million on Instagram.
The Twitter handle of Prime Minister’s Office has 32 million followers.
In September 2019, PM Modi was the third-most followed world leader on the micro blogging site, behind only US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama.
The Prime Minister was the first Indian to cross the 50-million-followers mark on Twitter.
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