Mission

Encourage, Develop , Sustain Livelihoods of Artisans within India’s Varied Crafts Sector.

The Rapid Pace of Industrialization has seen a steady generational decline on the Artisan
Community.

Poor wages, Govt. Skill Development Schemes,
Higher Educational Opportunities, ever increasing
pressure on ever decreasing land holdings has led to
an erosion of Artisans that
have over Generations learnt and passed down very
special skills from Father to Sons.

Mainly Male dominated, Crafts had been their
Primary Source of Income. Female members of the
Family played Secondary Roles as unpaid
apprentices or helpers.

Our Thrust

Target Craft Clusters where the steady erosion of Male Members to Migration have led to almost entire villages to be inhabited by the Older Generation, women and Children.
Our Cluster Development and Livelihood Initiative has taken the Challenge of Training, Sustaining and Developing Women into taking up Family owned Crafts and enterprises, earning Independently to become proud Bread Winners.

To this end we started with Targeting a Small and Very Backward Village in Western UP, Khurrampur Khadak, Tehsil Nagina, Dist. Bijnor, in the year 2011. Men were originally Handloom Weavers. With wages not keeping up with growing aspirations, the Village saw huge migration of Working Male members. Women had started working on Looms.

This led to a Decrease in Productivity as Weaving is Hard Manual work. Where One man is able to weave between 15-25 meters a Day, a woman can manage between 3-5 mtrs along with household Chores.

Embroidery

The area around Lucknow, Awadh, has been famous for Hand embroidery called Chikan. Chikan has been a prominent source of Income Generation for women of mainly the Muslim Community. While embroidery is a women’s domain of the Sunni Sect, Mukaish, an extra embellishment, was the domain of Male members of the Shia, thus balancing earning potential. Today, due to similar migration women from all communities have been trained on both embroidery and Mukaish. With help from Grass roots Organisations we have Identified Villages in Lakhimpur and Malihabad UP where women from all sections are Identified for Training and Quality Product. Adda work. Women are at work on Hand Embroidery working under a Master, in the Village of Barasaat WB.

Printing on Textile

Brilliant Indigo, Tradidional Sahi and Begar printing Is done at Village Umaidpura in MP, Berugarhgarh Dist. Ujjain MP. by a group of women who have perfected the Craft of 2-4 colour Block Printing, these female Artisans are Regular wage earners. Madhubani Painting on Paper and Textile. Training and Design Intervention is an On going Process to keep women working from Home getting Regular and Sustained Work from Home opportunities. Villages surrounding Darbhanga, Bihar have felt the Impact of our vigorously Supportive Initiative.

Stitching

All Families have at least One Sowing Machine to stitch Family Clothing for Marriages, Eid and other such Festive Occasions. We brought to them an idea of participating in Training to make Simple Sellable Garments, such as Pajamas. Participation was slow at the beginning, but the idea caught on. As women started seeing the benefits of earning from Home, with less physical labor, increased productivity while tending to home chores. From the Original 7 members of the Group from one Village the Movement grew to 300 members from 5 villages.

There are ongoing works in Progress in Other Sectors in Telengana, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan where similar socio-economic situations prevail. I trust our Enterprise finds resonance with your esteemed Organisation.

Best Practices

Mission -  Gives us a Panoramic View of long term Goals. Guidance Document to watch our Step by Step Journey. Mapping and frequent reviews of Actions on Ground keep members of a Group committed to Ultimate Goals.

Creation of Interest-  Find Support from like- minded Friends and Associates.


Core Group-  An association of people who are Central to driving the Mission with Passion and Commitment

Target Area-  according to Mission and Vision that would make maximum Impact. The Area chosen has need of an Initiative that could change lives. The Aim can be Financial, Social or both. It is seen the First always leads to the Next.