USHA Silai School: Here's How Training And Production Centres Are Empowering Women

The USHA Silai training and production centre is a central facility created especially for rural women to assemble, get trained in sewing and stitching and also make products for the market. This model came into being in 2015, and the benefit to the women associated with it were immediately apparent. Once the model took off, a number of different NGOs and corporate and government partners joined this effort to give the women of rural India, their own identity, their independence. As part of the training and production centre model, the USHA Silai School programme brings its expertise of specialised training, customised to the needs of the partner, which could be anything from bags and uniforms to accessories, garments and so on. The training is then given at two levels - basic and advanced - depending on the skill of the learners. 

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According to Mary Rupa Tete, Vice President, USHA Social Services, USHA has been instrumental in setting up many training and production centres. She said,

Many organisations have approached USHA looking for a holistic solution, which could be a specific training module, or system and process, equipment for the centre, helping set up the entire system for them. And I'm happy to say that we have helped many corporates, as well as government agencies, set up such training cum production centres. Typically, these training cum production centres are spaces which are centrally located to, let's say 4-5 villages, and cater to the women population there. These centres are primarily used as learning centres where people can come learn how to stitch and sew. And these are also spaces where they can make products, which can be sold in the market.

A training and production centre of the Bhagwan Singh Memorial Foundation, in the village of Rasulpur, in Nawanshahr district of Punjab, is engaged in various socio-economic welfare activities in the region along with empowering the Silai women. The head of the trust, UK based Ajit Singh, wants to do something for the people of his land. He wants to give back to his village, to his country. He said,

I started it when I was in Kenya. I used to visit India almost 3-4 times a year. Then I came to India, and the idea came to my mind and I thought it should be done. Then in 2019, we legally established this foundation and started working. Well, at the moment we have started only this school, and then I have a plan to start something for the farmers in the village. And also, chef training, we are building a big kitchen over there to train men or women as chefs.

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The Bhagwan Singh Memorial Foundation wanted to empower women by giving them life and livelihood skills. The USHA Silai School program ticked all the boxes. The trust provided a building, dedicated for USHA's training and production work, and the USHA Silai school provided its best trainers to train the women in sewing and stitching. Mr Singh said,

I was looking for somebody to come as an associate with me. A friend of mine, who lives in Chandigarh, suggested that why don't you contact the USHA people. So, I contacted them. And happily, it materialised with them. I have a very good relationship with them, and as we are trying to know each other, understand each other, perhaps in so many other areas also we will associate with each other.

While talking about her experience, Poonam, a Silai Hero at Bhagwan Singh Memorial Foundation said, that the training that they received here was wholesome and helped her become financially independent. Sunita, another Silai Hero said,

Here we are trained to make pants, shirts, skirts, uniforms, ladies' kurta, gents kurta pyjama. I have been sewing for a long time, but I have always made ladies' garments. I did not know how to stitch shirts for men, nor skirts and uniforms for children. I learned everything here, including how the fabric is cut. I liked the way we are trained in the smallest things. Earlier we had to go to the city for training, which was uncomfortable, and a lot of time was wasted. This centre is in our village, so it is easy to take out the time to come and learn. When people come to know that we have trained with the USHA company, they feel we would be doing a good job, so we get even more work.

Mr Singh stressed that awareness of women is very important. He added that for him, a woman has a very high status in life, and every person should respect and do the maximum for her. He said,

During my childhood, it was my mother who used to knit a sweater for me. So many women at home, I think, know it how to do it. There is one book Kachche Dhage and another named Ek Bechari Ma. It's all about women, so I respect women from the core of my heart.

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