USHA And State-Owned Enterprises Are On A Mission To Empower Poor Women In Jharkhand And Odisha

In Jharkhand, USHA and Central Mine Planning and Design Institute have come together to set up 20 Silai Schools around the mining areas in Dhanbad district. While the district is famous for its rich coal fields, the people living around the mining areas have been suffering poverty. Thus, the partnership aims to create a pool of opportunities for women in this area so that they can learn a new skill and use it to earn an income.

Sunita Devi, a tribal woman from Paduki village in Dhanbad, is one of the thousands of coal belt residents for whom getting two square meals a day is a daily fight. A widow, she has two children to look after as well as old parents. When an opportunity arose to sign up for USHA's first training centre in collaboration with CMPDI, she took it with a hope of changing her life for better.

While talking to NDTV, she said, 'The Silai School has helped me learn the skill of stitching. Not only this, it has opened new opportunities for me. USHA and CMPDIL have not only given me a bigger machine but also better skills and confidence. We are now being trained so we can open our own schools and train other women to earn an income.'

As Sunita takes up the journey of becoming an entrepreneur after being a struggling seamstress for long, she targets to double her income and help her children get a better education.

Like Sunita, another learner at USHA Silai School, Sangeeta Ram also hopes to help her family financially. The women wish to send their children to better schools and are ready for anything to help their children get a better future. According to Naveen Kumar, Assistant Manager, Community Development, Nodal Officer, CSR, CMPDI the trainers at the training centre understand the dreams of the learners and work hard to help them gain skills to fulfil those dreams.

In the adjoining state of Odisha, USHA has collaborated with National Building Construction Corporation Limited to help women living around the steel plant upgrade their skill and become financially independent.

A training centre was set up under this partnership in Rourkela, the industrial district of Odisha where about 30 women are receiving training. Itwari Minsh, a resident of Dalposh village of Rourkela is one of them. After receiving training from USHA Silai School, Itwari, a mother of two and wife to a daily wage labour, has become an entrepreneur and is also helping other women become financially independent.

The training centre in Rourkela aims to train 90 women who are in need. All the learners in the sewing training centre will be supervised for about a year by trainers so that they make the most of their learnings.

According to MB Appa Rao, General Manager Incharge, CSR, Rourkela steel plant, women are learning how to assemble the machine, how to fix the machine and after that they are also given the training for teaching skills, for making ladies' garment, gents' garment and embroidery.

At the end of their training, all the learners are provided with a sewing machine for free along with a signage board for their own Silai School, some tool to them her repair the machine in case of any wear and tear and a user manual. The women are encouraged to impart the knowledge gained during the training among other women in their community and help them earn a livelihood.