Silai Hero Bharti Kohade Of Madhya Pradesh Has Become A Role Model For Others

Bharti Kohade from the Sonegaon district in Betul, Madhya Pradesh has been an extrovert since childhood. After her marriage, she wanted to invest in a new business venture with her husband, but fate played its game. Their life came crashing down, and the unexpected loss of a huge sum of money left them shattered. With the disappointments mounting, Ms Kohade realised that the lost wealth was not going to come back and that they needed to move forward.

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Before marriage, Ms Kohade lived in an economically stable house where her father had a welding workshop in which he manufactured large Tin containers. She completed her studies and got married to a businessman who provided a comfortable living standard to her and her two daughters aged 6 and 3 years. However, things started to fell apart when her husband suffered major financial loss as his business partner betrayed him. It was during the same time when Ms Kohade had given birth to her third child. She said,

Our life came crashing down and we had absolutely no savings. Because of the unexpected loss of a huge sum of money we were stood on the road. Depressed by this, my husband gave in to alcohol. This left me even more hopeless and I informed the District Magistrate about the illegal sale of alcohol. After a plethora of disappointments, my husband realized that they will not be able to regain their lost wealth and must move forward – there is no point crying over spilt milk after all.

Ms Kohade, with her family, moved to Sonegaon to live in her native village. Her father supported them and provided a plot where they constructed a temporary shelter. Ms Kohade, who knew some basic stitching, decided to take up some work to improve the family's condition.

In December 2018 she heard about a Silai School Woman Entrepreneur – Sarla – living in a nearby village. At her Silai school, Ms Kohade got trained and became a USHA Silai School teacher herself. 

The association with USHA has helped me gain more recognition and acknowledgement for my work. USHA Silai signage has helped me to gain reverence and identity within the community as well. Now I am a Silai teacher and motivated other girls and women to come forward and open their own Silai Schools in their villages, hamlets. I ensure that all my learners become capable enough to not just ‘sew' but even to teach the craft. Leadership qualities combined with great Interpersonal skills has a long way to go. I saved money for a shop. Now I upgraded my Silai School as boutique in main market of village.

After being associated with USHA, Ms Kohade gained encouragement of becoming an entrepreneur and generating employment for others in need.  Ms Kohade is also a Master Trainer for USHA Silai School Program.

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I got an opportunity to conduct a training program of prisoner women at Dewas district jail and a batch of 10 women of Hoshangabad district. I got a confidence during this process. In the month of April, May and June 2020, I also participated in the online training of mask making and other products and now I am a part of regular online training, which is still going on. The online training is providing by USHA Silai School Program. Now my quality is improved, my income is also improved due to the quality, Ms Kohade said.

Ms Kohade has, so far, trained more than 35 learners and has been earning monthly average income is Rs. 5500 per month. In the festival and marriages season she earns over Rs, 10,000 per month.

Not only this, Ms Kohade has also earned the name because of her work towards fighting for liquor ban in her area. She said,

Because of their drinking habit, men used to fight with their wives which not only affected the well being of those women but also of their children. About 10 women came to me with this problem. I discussed it with my husband and called 181 the next day. The police came and resolved the matter.

For almost 10 years, the USHA Silai School programme has been mentoring women like Ms Kohade on how to be self-reliant and independent. With the livelihood skills taught by the programme, more than 8 lakh women, from almost 16,000 villages across the country, have learnt how to fight prejudices, how to run businesses, how to earn & look after their own money, how to take care of their families' needs, how to be productive & participatory, and how to realise their own potential. Silai school women are now emerging as change catalysts of their communities, willing to make a difference and act against prevailing social issues.

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