Entrepreneurship programme: 1,500 women to be upskilled to make them self-reliant

The Adani Foundation, in association with UP Handicrafts Development and Marketing Corporation Limited, Lucknow and Khadi Village Industries Board, Lucknow, has launched an entrepreneurship programme at Sewapuri in Varanasi

The Adani Foundation, in association with UP Handicrafts Development and Marketing Corporation Limited, Lucknow and Khadi Village Industries Board, Lucknow, has launched an entrepreneurship programme at Sewapuri in Varanasi.

A training programme has also been organised for 69 women to learn sewing machine operation and business skills. (HT Photo)

The programme will cater to the employment generation needs of more than 1,500 rural women through various income-generating activities. It will act as a catalyst for the social and economic empowerment of skilled women, a press release read.

Skill development training of 1,500 women in four trades – uniform stitching, shoe-making, sweater and incense stick making – has been organised by a team from the Adani Skill Development Centre for three months. Several processes will be adopted during the training, like sensitisation, mobilisation, and enrolment of women in the training programme to help them develop their potential and skills.

A training programme has also been organised for 69 women to learn sewing machine operation and business skills. They are learning uniform and bag-stitching. Two batches have also begun in incense stick-making, with a total of 131 women enrolled.

Khadi and Village Industries Board, Lucknow and Union Area Development Committee, Varanasi have been instrumental in providing their building and campus for the training programmes.

The programme will motivate women to form self-help groups (SHGs) that will promote their livelihoods and make them self-reliant and financially independent. Once organised into SHGs, women will be trained in vignette credit and thrift activities, followed by book-keeping, business planning, and market linkages.

The formation of a women-led manufacturing organisation will create a value chain by providing support for entrepreneurial activities like risk management, fraud management, product advancement, tie-ups with marketing agencies and line departments, branding, products and manufacturers. It will bring together the organisation and the market, creating an ecosystem of sustainability and the empowerment of women entrepreneurs.