Project Navya: Turning Traditional Katha Stitch into Livelihood Opportunities

In the rural communities of the Sundarbans, women have long transformed old saris and discarded fabrics into Kantha, using simple running stitches to preserve stories of everyday life, family, labour, nature and memory. What was once created primarily within households carries generations of skill, creativity and cultural knowledge.

Building on this tradition, Project Navya, sponsored by Unity Small Finance Bank and implemented by MUKTI, is creating new possibilities for women to transform their existing craft skills into sustainable livelihood opportunities.

As part of the project, MUKTI launched a two-month Kantha Stitch skill development training programme at the Kankandighi SWAS Office on 10 August 2026. Through hands-on training, participating women are learning different stitching techniques, patterns, fabric handling, thread selection, contemporary design and finishing methods. Regular practice is helping them improve the quality and consistency of their work while strengthening creativity and confidence.

The initiative, however, looks beyond simply preserving a traditional craft. It explores how traditional knowledge can be adapted to contemporary design and changing markets, making these skills more relevant, valuable and economically viable for women today.

The training also provides a shared space where participants practise together, exchange ideas and learn from one another. This collective learning process is encouraging women to recognise that skills they may have practised informally for years can have real economic value and open pathways to home-based work, self-employment and collective production.

Project Navya is also expanding the idea of textile-based livelihoods beyond Kantha. The initiative explores tapestry and rug-making using discarded fast-fashion garments and other non-disposable textiles, giving materials that might otherwise become waste a new purpose. Drawing inspiration from India’s rich traditions of durrie-making and rag weaving, the project seeks to turn discarded textiles into durable and meaningful products for contemporary homes.

As the training progresses, greater emphasis will be placed on design development, product quality, consistency and finishing, helping participants create products that can respond to future market opportunities.

Through Project Navya, craft becomes more than a means of preserving heritage. It becomes a way to strengthen women’s livelihoods, preserve traditional knowledge, encourage responsible use of materials and transform textile waste into cultural and economic value.

With the support of Unity Small Finance Bank, MUKTI is working to ensure that the skills already present within rural communities are not lost, but strengthened and reimagined—enabling women artisans to carry their traditions forward while building greater economic independence.