E-Paper
Slum women taught to make rakhi, handicrafts to sustain themselves
New Delhi:
New Delhi:
Kumari Jyoti, 21, had lost her job in April this year after a garment factory where she used to work decided to wrap up its operations due to Covid-19 pandemic.
After being without work and money for over two months, Jyoti is now part of a group of women undergoing skill training to make items such as rakhi and handicrafts under the aegis of the New Delhi district administration.
The New Delhi district administration has from Thursday started a skill-development programme to empower people, especially women from economically weaker sections living in slum areas and battling for survival. The initiative named as “Ummeed Ki Rakhi” aims at generating a source of employment for those families who lost their job due to the impact of Covid-19 on society.
“I have a family of six people, including my parents and all used to work before Covid-19 outbreak. Now everyone is sitting idle at home so it was difficult to survive without money and work for two months. A few days back I came to know about skill training being given by the government. I’m being trained to make rakhis as the festival of Rakshabandhan is approaching. With such initiatives, many needy persons will not only get money but also become self-reliant,” Jyoti, a resident of Budh Nagar near Narayana said.
According to officials, under the initiative, a self-help group of around 50 people, mainly women, is being trained about making Rakhi ahead of the festival of Rakshabandhan.
They said local NGOs have been roped in to provide raw material and for sale of Rakhi.
Tanvi Garg, district magistrate New Delhi, said “Ummeed Ki Rakhi” is a self-help group project under which effort is being made to generate employment by rakhi making for those who lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
She said that under this project, different self-help groups of around 50 people each, mainly women, are created from the slums of Budh Nagar, Inderpuri and other areas in the district.
“These SHGs are being trained about Rakhi making with the help of volunteers and various NGOs. Once the Rakhi making project is successful, we will provide them training to make homemade items, handicrafts, etc., so that a self-sustainable model of employment generation can be established,” Garg said.
Most of SHG members in the programme are women who used to work at factories and shops.
Nitin Shakya, the district’s coronavirus nodal officer who is supervising the initiative, said only one centre has been set up at a primary school where aspirants have imparted skill training of Rakhi making and product generation. He said that four more such centres will come up at Vasant Vihar, Nangal Raya, Narayana and Chanakyapuri slums.
He said the target is to make 10,000 rakhis and those will not only be sold in the open market but also stalls will be set up in the government offices in the district.
“The district administration will promote the sale of rakhi for their own staff and also motivate others to help these self-help group. Proceeds from the sale of Rakhis will be given to the self-help group after deduction of the cost of raw materials,” he said.
Shakya said that all safety standards with respect to social distancing, mask, sanitisers among others are ensured while imparting training to aspirants and preparing Rakhi.
