Rubina Begum from Nithari Village, had been struggling to move on in life since 2006 gruesome serial killings came to light.She slowly regained her confidence after joining USHA Silai School and then became the first women in her family to earn a living.Read More
Madhya Pradesh's Phuliya Bai had a limited source of income. Her life turned around when she joined USHA Silai School programme. She earns Rs 3000 monthly, has been able to finance her daughter's education and gained the respect of others in her village.Read More
Rekha family’s earning was insufficient to meet everyone’s need. After Rekha joined the USHA Silai School Programme, she started her own school and generated income. Today, Rekha’s husband and mother in-law are giving her all the support she needs to expand her business. Read More
Despite being a graduate she couldn’t find a job of her choice. But her in-laws did not let this become a hurdle for her, instead they guided her to a new track to achieve her goals. She opened her own silai school and is now training other women of her village to become independent. Read More
Rintu Gogoi is wife of an agricultural labor and mother of two boys. Her husband being the single earning member, they struggled to pay the school fees of their children. Then, she came forward and associated herself with Ushal Silai School to manage the household expenses. Read More
Mumtaz Begum's family of five was living a fairly content life until 2008, the year her husband passed away. As the years went by, the expenses became hard to manage. It was then that she got associated with Usha Silai School to bring in a regular source of income to support her family. Read More
Shivananda Nagnathrao Kothurwad is separated from her husband and lives with her 2 children. She belongs to Sultanpur village, Maharashtra. Presently she stays with her parents and pays for boarding and lodging. Before starting the Silai School, she gave tuitions to students and completed an embroidery course. Read More
Madhuri's husband was abusive, and an alcoholic. He started beating her up the very next day of their wedding. She was just 18 when she got married and was perpetually living in fear. She moved back to parents' home when she couldn't take it anymore. Now, she is 28, and a mother to a boy who goes to school. Read More
Naseema Bano lives in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. Her father worked as a tractor mechanic and her mother would pitch in financially with switching jobs. Her parents tried their best to send her and her five sisters to school, but none of them could complete their schooling. Naseema managed to study till Class 10. Read More
Kalpana Kamadi, from Dhule District, Maharashtra, lost her son as she couldn’t afford the treatment. This incident jolted her into working towards financial stability for her family. She now runs her own Silai school and trains other women in her village. She is now respectful called 'madam' in her village. She recently bought her own car on installments.
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24-year-old Nazira Ghazi a resident of Durgapur, Kolkata was forced to marry after she completed her 10th grade. But she defied societal pressures, convinced her parents against early marriage and joined Usha Silai School. After years of hard work, Nazira financed her own education, and also supported her family. Read More
Chhotibai Sahebrao Chaure, 32-year old from Dali Samba village of Sakri block, Dhule district of Maharashtra has been running her own Silai School since 2014. Till date, Chhotibai has trained 28 women and now aims to increase the number of sewing machines in her class to give training to more women.
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Pratibha Pravin Khonde, from Sakri Tehsil in Maharashtra trained at the Silai School and started her own school within her house to not just earn money but also to enable other women to earn their own livelihood. Many of Pratibha's students are now teaching other women and becoming financially independent.
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35-year-old Lata, who lives, Pune, Maharashtra, has two children. Her husband is a farmer and Lata also helps the family by working on the farm. However, it is difficult for her family to survive on agricultural income only. Lata knew a little about sewing before she was selected for the USHA Silai School program. Read More
Gauri Jivane, 42-year-old, runs her Silai School in Shivangaon village, Nagpur, Maharashtra. Gauri is a widow, her son is doing MBA and daughter studies in a school. Despite her poor background, Gauri managed a graduation degree for herself and worked as a clerk in a Co-operative Bank before her marriage. Read More
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.
The women of the Toda tribe practice an ancient form of embroidery which is deeply intertwined with their culture and heritage
To keep Khneng embroidery alive and empower women, the Meghalaya State Rural Livelihoods Society (MSRLS) has joined hands with Usha International Limited
The East India Fashion Week featured over 30 designers, which gave the women of the Usha Silai school an opportunity to connect with industry experts, helping them get a sense of the fashion industry
USHA hopes they will be able to capitalise on this advantage and that their continued intervention will turn Puducherry into a strong contender in the silambam circuit of India
USHA has been persistently promoting local traditions and culture around the country, whether through traditional forms of art and craft or indigenous forms of spor
Yoga is practised worldwide by millions of people in many forms and variations. At its core, it is a mind-body practise combining physical posture, breathing techniques, and meditation for both health and relaxation
Kushalta Ke Kadam, an initiative by NDTV and Usha, has entered its eighth season with the aim to empower women from rural India, by fostering them with sewing and stitching skills through Usha Silai School. NDTV-Usha focuses on reaching out to women in villages near border areas and remote regions.
India is home to a wide variety of traditional sports. But over the years we have lost touch with our majestic sporting culture and many sports are even on the verge of dying. To re-familiarise the long-lost sports activities, USHA has stepped up to promote various traditional sports across India with the help of women of Silai Schools.
USHA is building a skilled female workforce by partnering with government bodies. Have a look at how these collaborations are offering a fresh ray of hope to women in remote areas of India
USHA is known for building partnerships between NGOs and corporations and offering a fresh ray of hope to women in remote areas of India. Now, the organisation has partnered with various government bodies to build a skilled female workforce
From old martial art form Kalaripayattu, old gymnastics form Mallakhamba to rural sports of Punjab's Qila Raipur, the USHA Silai school has stepped in to promote the forgotten traditional sports activities among the rural youth.
The USHA training centres impart stitching and sewing training to the inmates of District Jail Dimapur and the rural women of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, with an aim to generate employment opportunities for them.
Meet the USHA Silai school heroes who have created a pathway for themselves and uplifted others in learning stitching and sewing skills, despite the physical challenges and social prejudices they have been facing in their lives
While some women are breaking barriers by excelling in traditional forms of martial arts, other women are breaking barriers by fighting social prejudices. Besides teaching sewing and stitching skills in Silai schools, USHA is empowering women and youth to learn and participate in traditonal martial art forms and local sports.
Through USHA Silai schools many women have expanded their small home-based set-ups to improve not just their own prospects but also generate jobs and provide livelihoods for other women. Here's how the Silai Heroes trained by the USHA Silai School Programme are changing their own world, and that of others.
The rural women of Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal have undergone stitching and sewing training in USHA Training Centres, and learned new and traditional art forms of stitching garments. Most of these women are now financially independent and are imparting their knowledge to other women in their villages.