A one-day workshop was organised by Indian Trust for Art Culture and Heritage (INTACH) in collaboration with Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU) to create awareness among youth. The workshop aimed at training volunteers for awareness, conservation and protection of tangible and intangible heritage.
The workshop was inaugurated by Prof VK Bhat, Dean Faculty of Humanities and Chief Guest. Other attendees included Purnima Dutt, Principal Director of INTACH; SM Sahni, Convenor of Jammu Chapter of INTACH; Nagendra Singh Jamwal, Registrar SMVDU; and Arvind Kotwal, Coordinator Heritage Tourism INTACH.
In her keynote address, Purnima Dutt gave an overview on Indian culture and heritage. She emphasised the need to preserve cultural heritage through young heritage volunteers. Prof VK Bhat stressed on involving students in heritage awareness and thanked INTACH for collaborating with SMVDU.
Arvind Kotwal elaborated on the built heritage of Jammu while Kripal Singh spoke about rural art. Dr Deepika Slathia delivered a lecture on natural heritage while Dr Sudhir Singh spoke about intangible heritage. Abhishek Das from Heritage Education & Communication Service discussed volunteerism.
Dr Lalit Gupta stressed the need for involving youth in spreading awareness about heritage. He mentioned that a modern museum is needed in Jammu region to display artifacts, handlooms, crafts and rare paintings. The proceedings were conducted by Dr Rakesh Kumar and Dr Kamni Pathania.