Kushalta Ke Kadam: Adopt A Silai School And Help Transform The Lives Of Rural Women

Several women around the country benefited from USHA's innovative ‘Adopt A Silai School' campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the world had shut down and lakhs of people were trying to make ends meet. Because of the chances offered by the initiative, the 54 Silai Schools that were adopted during the course of the programme were able to weather the pandemic. Here's how the campaign has impacted the lives of women in need across the country's rural areas.

With the increasing number of silai schools across India, the USHA Silai School program required more quality trainers, hence came up with the concept of Master Trainers.

USHA International and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly known as the United Nations Fund for Population Activities have collaborated to develop life skills module for women in rural areas of India.

The USHA Silai School aims at taking the women's journey beyond being upskilled and independent. The focus is to induce an entrepreneurship culture among women in rural areas. USHA is working towards enabling and empowering women through partnerships with corporates like Aavas Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation and Balrampur Chini Mills Limited (BCML).

After the success of USHA Silai schools at various levels, government entities have come forward to join hands with USHA and seek support for the skill development of the rural women of India. Here is how USHA's partnership with the CWA (CRPF family Welfare Association) and the Government of Rajasthan making a difference.

SIDBI (Small Industries Development Bank of India) under its flagship initiative Mission Swavalamban, has partnered with USHA for promoting entrepreneurship among rural women. The collaboration is venturing out for setting up 2,450 USHA Swavalamban Silai Schools which will be done in three phases across various villages of India. The objective of Mission Swavalamban is to shift the focus from job-seekers to job-creators.

In India, the tribal population is more than 10 crore and is larger than that of any other country in the world. However, despite the protection given to the tribal population, it remains the most marginalised group in the country, on the three most important indicators of development- health, education and income. With an aim to improve the status of the marignalised tribal communities, the USHA Silai School Progamme launched the 'Tribal Exclusive Usha Silai School Project'. The objective of the initiative is to support tribal women, by helping them earn a better income.

The USHA Silai School program is playing a critical role in restoring and promoting traditional art and crafts. The Silai heroes have been using their skill and creativity to preserve indigenous art and also to increase their earnings through the fusion of traditional art with modern skills. Here is how three Silai Heroes from Gujarat, Bihar and Manipur are doing their bit in not only preserving indigenous art but also earn a livelihood and helping other women also in becoming financially independent.

The USHA Silai Training and Production Centres are central facility created especially for rural women to assemble, get trained in sewing and stitching and also make products for the market. The Bhagwan Singh Memorial Foundation in Punjab, SANKALP NGO in Odisha and Galaxy enterprise in Meghalaya are three such centres that are empowering the rural women and making a difference.

The COVID-19 crisis has brought a change in way people, the global economy, business, and even social activities run. When physical movement and gatherings were restricted, it was the virtual world that people turned to. Companies accelerated digitization, and moved all their operations online, as it was the only way to save drowning economies. It was the need of the hour. And it was no different for the women of the USHA Silai Schools.