Rourkela: “I had an interest in drawing since childhood. With the Pattachitra painting workshop, I am honing my skills, which I aspire to use as a way of income generation,” says the starry eyed Jasmine Kissan, a girl pursuing +2 education and simultaneously undergoing a training by SAIL, Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) in the traditional Pattachitra painting.
“Without any prior knowledge about drawing and painting, I was very apprehensive about this training programme. However, it is the trust and encouragement of the CSR officials of RSP and the trainers that I am able to create beautiful arts on paper now,” says 43 year old Poonam Tete.
These women along with 8 others from Suidih, a village in the periphery of RSP were chosen for attending a year-long training programme organised by Rourkela Steel Plant under its CSR initiatives in making of Pattachitra painting. Society for Women Action Development (SWAD) – an NGO has been roped in to execute the training programme.
The phase -1 of the programme, i.e the first month of the training was imparted at the Institute for Periphery Development (IPD) of CSR deptt, during which the trainees were taught various designs like borders, lining, creative motifs, designs, birds, animals, fishes, paper preparation for final painting and completing a painting. The trainees were provided the required materials and were taught by Mr. Susanta Kumar Betal. The Pahse-2 of the programme will be 11-month long and will be organised at Suidih Gram Panchayat Office where they would be learning the advance course of portraying simple themes with perfection.
A programme was organised at the IPD on 15th December 2023, to mark the Phase-1 of the programme. Dr. P K Sahoo, GM (Personnel) was the Chief Guest while Mrs. Archana Satpathy, GM (PR) and COC was the Guest of Honour in the function.Present on the occasion were Ms. Munmun Mittra, GM (CSR), Mrs Binapani Mishra, and Ms. Rekha Gupta, from SWAD, along with CSR Officials and trainees. Speaking on the occasion Dr. Sahoo appreciated the unique initiative undertaken by CSR and urged the participants to make the best use of the training programme and excel in the art to make it a profitable business. Ms. Satpathy highlighted the significance and importance of pattachitra art form having tremendous potential to showcase the richness of Odisha art and culture. At the outset Ms. Mittra delivered the welcome address while Mr. T B Toppo, AGM (CSR) proposed a formal vote of thanks. Ms. Richa Sudiram, Deputy Manager (CSR), coordinated the event
Notably, the total cost of the project is around Rs.10.5 lakhs. The twelve month long training programme aims at income generation, skill development, capacity building and sustainable livelihood for these women.
