Why in news? Shri C V Raju and Shri Moa Subong, grassroots innovators from Andhra Pradesh and Nagaland, respectively, are amongst the 106 Padma Shri awardees announced for the year 2023.

Highlights

• While the awards recognized Shri C V Raju’s efforts of reviving the traditional art of making Etikoppaka toys by adoption of eco-friendly technologies
• Shri Moa Subong was awarded for S&T based innovative ways of creating Naga folk music.
• Both the grass root innovators are supported by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) ,an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), in various forms for incubation of their respective technologies.

Etikoppaka toys

• The village of Etikoppaka is widely renowned for its lacquer-coated wooden toys in Andhra Pradesh
• They are coloured with natural dyes derived from seeds, lacquer, bark roots and leaves making it as eco friendly
• A much softer wood is used to make these toys and the art of toy-making is also known as turned wood lacquer craft.
• These toys has obtained GI tag from the state of Andhra Pradesh under Handicraft’s category