Retired government teacher gets Kala Samman

Naresh Kumari, a retired art and craft teacher and resident of Ward Number 7 of Nurpur, has been felicitated with the ‘Maharaja Sansar Chand Kala Samman’-2018 for her outstanding contribution to the field of art and for the promotion of Chamba ‘rumal’.

Key Points:

• Himachal Pradesh Art, Culture and Language Academy conferred the award on the former teacher, with a citation and cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, in its prize distribution function-2022 at Shimla. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur handed over the award to Naresh Kumari, originally from Chamba.

• The art and craft teacher has been promoting Chamba ‘rumal’ since 1977 and got the first prize in a state-level Chamba ‘rumal’ competition, organised by the Himachal Pradesh Art, Culture and Language Academy in 2015. She has organised exhibitions for Chamba ‘rumal’ several times in other states, with an objective to promote and conserve the art. During her service in government schools, she imparted training to five girl students with the same objective. She is also a recipient of Dr BR Ambedkar National Award in 2017 and was honoured with the National Merit Certificate Award-2017 by the Union Textile Ministry for promoting the unique Himachali art.