Sui-Dhaaga: Stitching a Path to Empowerment
“Sui-Dhaaga” is a well-known Hindi phrase that represents the craft of stitching. Sewing has provided work opportunities for numerous people all around the world. In order to promote rural transformation, the Manjari Foundation's Second Chance Education Programme, which is supported by Pradan and UN Women, empowers women through skill development.
The Indian government has declared the district of Baran, which is notorious for its backwardness in numerous respects, as an aspirational district.
The Manjari Foundation launched the Second Chance Education Programme in several villages in Rajasthan's Baran district in October 2019. At the outset of this endeavor, mobilizing women proved difficult because trust was not simply conferred upon us in this unfamiliar geographical region.
As a result, our Saarthis (CRP Community Resource Professionals) conducted intensive counselling sessions and had frequent meetings to address these trust-related issues.
We organised groups of aspiring women and helped them complete the appropriate paperwork. 34 ladies were chosen from among the applicants to participate in a comprehensive sewing and stitching training programme.
The Rural Development and Self-Employment Training Institute in Baran hosted the month-long in-house training. These women felt empowered and equipped to take on sewing jobs and seek work after completing the programme in December 2019.
Following that, the Manjari Foundation cooperated with the Rajasthan Spinning and Weaving Mills (RSWML), resulting in interviews for 17 female candidates. All 17 were successfully hired after being shortlisted.
During the first three months, they would be on probation and would be paid INR 256 per day, in addition to housing and other benefits.
After successfully completing the probation period, these ladies will be entitled to a monthly income of INR 9265, which includes housing and other incentives. This enormous shift from being housewives to having respectable occupations exemplifies the genuine potential of "Sui-Dhaaga" in battling poverty and providing a good future for the women of Baran. Manjari intends to assist another 100 women in the coming year.
Tamannah, a 20-year-old recipient of this project, thanks the Second Chance Education Programme, saying, "I am sincerely grateful for the transformative impact that the programme has had on my life. Words cannot express how grateful I am. With such chances, I am convinced that society's perception of women will change over time. I would like to urge more women to participate in the Second Chance Education Programme and embrace positive change in their life."
