Rafiqa is an artisan and Community Correspondent from Budgam, Jammu & Kashmir Involved in the artisanship of pashmina needlework, Rafiqa is worried about the fact that fewer and fewer people are taking up traditional craftsmanship and carrying it forward to the coming generation. She has made multiple videos telling of the atrocities that artists have to go through in this age…

Rafiqa Bano

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Lanura Budgam village is located at a distance of 24 Kms from Srinagar city. The village was declared to be the first ‘cashless’ village by J&K Government on 18 December 2016. The declaration of Lanura being a cashless village stunned local villagers. The village lacks basic facilities, like electricity infrastructure, water, metallic road and other amenities of life, says a villager, Ghulam Mohammad. The villagers are poverty stricken and a very few people use smartphones and internet. Locals are aghast over the announcement and demand a probe into the matter.

The district administration Budgam under its handout released on its official website maintains that the ‘feat’ was achieved through “rigorous efforts by CSC e-Governance Services India Limited and National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the objective of Digital Financial Inclusion.” With a few shops scattered across this village, the people could be seen doing cash transactions. Apparently, NIC Budgam’s District Informatics Officer has been awarded for this ‘achievement’ recently in New Delhi.