Kushalta Ke Kadam
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Sustenance Of USHA Silai School Teachers And Their Contribution To Society During Crisis

When COVID-19 pandemic induced lockdown led to the loss of jobs and financial crisis in many homes, USHA, skilled women in mask making which not only supported their families, making them sole bread winners, but also opened income opportunities for their learners as well. Teaching women about mask making during the pandemic not only benefitted the women to create items to protect themselves from coronavirus and their families but also it generated some income for them and their students during the crisis. Gouri Das, Kalawati Sharma and Jayashree Janardhan Ghodvinde are three of the eight lakh women who worked non-stop during the coronavirus outbreak, sustaining not only themselves, but other Silai School students and teachers as well.

Sustenance Of USHA Silai School Teachers And Their Contribution To Society During Crisis

38-year-old Gouri Das from Gumrah village in Barak valley, one of the remotest regions of Assam is a mother of three children, and an USHA Silai School trainer. People in her village say that she is a strong, motivated woman. She runs an USHA Silai School in her house. When she found about USHA conducting a training near her village, got herself enrolled.

Sustenance Of USHA Silai School Teachers And Their Contribution To Society During Crisis

After completing the training, she started her own Silai School and has so far trained over 100 women and girls from in and around her village.

Sustenance Of USHA Silai School Teachers And Their Contribution To Society During Crisis

Last year, when the country was facing multiple lockdowns due to COVID-29 pandemic, she was able to earn more than Rs. 5 lakh along with her 20 learners by supplying masks to Bandhan Bank, Gram Panchayat, and Assam Gramin Vikash Bank.

Sustenance Of USHA Silai School Teachers And Their Contribution To Society During Crisis

For Ms Das's students to have worked the way they did during the pandemic shows the effectiveness of the Silai School model, even during trying times. Because of her Silai School, Ms Das is also able to fulfil her daughter's dream of becoming a trained dancer.

Sustenance Of USHA Silai School Teachers And Their Contribution To Society During Crisis

Kahalgaon town of Bhagalpur district, Bihar, Kalawati Sharma also worked nonstop during the Covid crisis, stitching masks and training other women and girls also. As the men in the family lost their livelihoods due to lockdown, they came forward and to the charge of their family's sustenance.

Sustenance Of USHA Silai School Teachers And Their Contribution To Society During Crisis

According to Ms Sharma, during the time of the coronavirus outbreak induced lockdown, women who were working with her were forced to stay at home for about five days as there were no orders, no work. They began to fear for their future.

Sustenance Of USHA Silai School Teachers And Their Contribution To Society During Crisis

She said that after getting an order from the village head, her Silai School women got work and started earning. But, they were told to arrange for the raw material themselves. As all shops were closed, it was difficult for them to access the required raw material easily. Ms Sharma went to the homes of shopkeepers and requested them to provide the material.

Sustenance Of USHA Silai School Teachers And Their Contribution To Society During Crisis

Women and girls working with her were more than willing to work during the pandemic to earn money because the other people in their families lost their source of livelihood.

Sustenance Of USHA Silai School Teachers And Their Contribution To Society During Crisis

Ms sharma highlighted that during the pandemic, women worker very hard and earned around Rs. 1,200 to Rs. 1,500 each per day.

Sustenance Of USHA Silai School Teachers And Their Contribution To Society During Crisis

Jayashree Janardhan Ghodvinde who lives in Khalapur block of Raigad, Maharashtra started her Silai School on October 1, 2016. She then learnt sewing and got married at the age of 20 to Janardhan Ghodvinde, an auto-rickshaw driver. Soon after the marriage, she understood the economic limitations of her family. She began to work by taking stitching and sewing orders from her neighbours.

Sustenance Of USHA Silai School Teachers And Their Contribution To Society During Crisis

Through a local NGO, she found out about Usha Silai School Program. She was selected owing to her previous knowledge and hard work. After the 7-day residential training, she gained immense confidence and realized the importance of her skill.

Sustenance Of USHA Silai School Teachers And Their Contribution To Society During Crisis

On completion of the training, she immediately opened up her Silai School as the basic requisites - certificate, signage, service manual, and a sewing machine -were provided by USHA.

Sustenance Of USHA Silai School Teachers And Their Contribution To Society During Crisis

Ms Ghovinde charges Rs. 500 per month from her students. She has bought two more machines which enables her to teach more women in her class. Given her hectic schedule, she cannot work on 'stitching and sewing' orders for blouses, suits etcetera. She earns around Rs. 10000 to Rs. 12000 on an average in a month, solely based on Silai School. By saving every penny, she has managed to return a part of the gold loan that her husband had borrowed from the bank. She has educated her daughter and recently married her off. She has even bought a four-wheeler.

Adopt a Silai School

Adopt a Silai School

Do you want to be a part of the huge change that Usha Silai School is bringing about in the lives of millions of rural women? With just a simple click of a button, you can now contribute towards the opening of an Usha Silai School or support various other aspects of the school.

About the Initiative

About the Initiative

Kushalta Ke Kadam, an initiative by USHA Silai School and NDTV has entered its eighth season. The aim is to empower more women across rural India by teaching them sewing skills and helping them open new doors of opportunities for themselves. The initiative encourages rural women to become financially independent and entrepreneurs by taking up sewing and training others in their respective communities.

 

Since 2011, the USHA Silai School initiative has trained more than 12 lakh rural women through over 33,000 Silai schools, spanning over 20,751 villages across India.

 

The women earn Rs. 4,000 – 5,000 per month on an average, with the highest recorded monthly earning being Rs. 84,000 in a month. This earning works as a catalyst towards building their self-confidence, reducing gender inequities, and raising their stature within their families and in society at large.

 

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