'Stitching' the path to success: How women in Bharatpur are breaking barriers

The consignments that these women make are supplied to Srishti and Fabindia and are exported to Spain, Dubai and Japan too.

BHARATPUR: For 18-year-old Shivani, stepping out of the confines of her house was once a challenge in itself. After some persuasion and a lot of willpower, she is now well equipped to think of building a future for herself.

Belonging to Bharatpur, merely 180 kms from Jaipur in Rajasthan, Shivani started learning how to stitch at a skill training center in the city. Today, she has completed her 3-month training and has started working to earn a living for herself.

Shivani is just one of those hundreds of women who are being trained at this skill center, facilitated by Lupin Human Welfare and Research Foundation. Trained under a scheme in collaboration with the Rajasthan Skill & Livelihoods Development Corporation (RSLDC), these women are stitching their way to glory.

Not just the young, for middle-aged Mala Sharma too, this center has provided an opportunity to showcase her talent. With three young kids, of which two are in college, Mala had a lot of free time in hand. She enrolled herself for a three-month training and learned the art of tailoring, garment cutting, and fashion designing. She has been employed now by the center to bring her talent to use and earn a livelihood for herself.

“I did the training a year back and about two months back, I got a call from the center asking me if I would be interested in working here. I immediately said yes,” she recalls.

From making just shirt pockets to shirts and suits, the center takes orders from different cities. To complete these orders, it employs women who have been trained over time during these three-month sessions.

“They get Rs 17-20 per piece that they create. They are able to earn nearly Rs 200 for themselves per day. This amount can even go up if their output increases per day. The income is clearly proportional to the speed with which they make the products,” an employee at the center said.

These women are paid as per their choice – on a weekly or a monthly basis.

Apart from giving employment opportunities at this center, they even send a group of 22 women to Jaipur for an advanced training with Raymonds. Depending on their performance in Jaipur, Raymonds also hires them to work in its factories.

Recalling their journey from her house to now employees at Raymonds, Babita and Pinky say that they are paid well and feel much more confident of being able to live life independently.  

There is hope for women who cannot step out of their homes too. In 2014, Lupin Foundation adopted Korer village in Bharatpur. It took the machines to the women who wanted to work but did not have the means to travel to the city. Various courses were conducted on tailoring, ready-made garments production and embroidery.

So much so that today, these women are making consignments that are being supplied to Srishti and Fabindia. Their consignments have also been exported to other countries including Spain, Dubai and Japan.

A center has been created at Korer itself where there are 18 hi-tech jack machines with the help of which women create nearly 5000 garments per day.

“A lot of problems of this country will be solved if women become independent. It is an extremely proud feeling for us that we have been able to export products to other companies. We are trying our best to reach out to more exporters to expand the reach of the products that we are creating here,” Executive Director of Lupin Foundation Sita Ram Gupta said.

The foundation has partnered with USHA International to certify this ‘Tailoring and Garment Making’ programme and also to provide support services in designing as well as technical knowledge assistance.

The foundation is also helping women to get support on credit and marketing assistance for dealing with bulk orders. 

With women taking charge of their lives, are the men in the family happy? “Initially they were a little apprehensive but then they came and saw us working. After that, they did not stop me from working. In fact, my husband is happy that I am now doing something for myself,” Mala proudly states.

There is no strict criterion for selection for training. All that is needed is the girls applying should have at least passed Class 8 and should be in the age group of 18-35. “These are basic standards that we need to maintain so that we can select some of these women for the advanced training to Jaipur. We have to match up to their standards too,” a teacher at the center said.

It is interesting to note is that three male craftsmen of village Korer left their full-time jobs in Jaipur and Delhi to help these women at the craft design and production centre.

What we need is more of such strong-willed women and more of such encouraging men to support the ladies in the house.