Delhi students help villagers get the right price for handicraft items

A small village in West Bengal has found unlikely friends. A group of school students from the national capital are helping villagers from Golabari to sell their handicraft items at higher rates.

A small village in West Bengal has found unlikely friends. A group of school students from the national capital are helping villagers from Golabari to sell their handicraft items at higher rates.

Handmade baskets, pen holders, etc., are some of the items being sold by these students of DPS, Vasant Kunj. The students procure handmade items from the villagers and sell it in the city. They then spend part of the money on the villagers.

“My family hails from Golabari. During my visits there, I saw the poverty in the village. I then thought of providing them with a market to sell their products at a higher rate. Since they couldn’t come here, I decided to procure the items in bulk and sell these here,” said Diya Kundu, a Class XII student.

Diya and eight other students came together to start “Aleeyah”, a social business. The students set up stalls in their school during functions like annual day and sports day. They also put up stalls at their residential society during Diwali and Christmas.

Students said they procured unfinished items from the villagers. They make them more presentable. They said they would get the products from the village during summer and winter vacations.

“The products that we get need a little work. We colour and varnish them to make them attractive,” said Resham Khanna.

The students have formed groups and divided work. Khanna and two other students give finishing touches to the products, while Eshan Uniyal and Aditya handle the social media marketing for their business.

“Over the last year, we have provided bulbs to each house, repaired leaks in roofs, purchased raincoats for farm labourers, and provided every household with a safety aid kit. We have also identified and deployed volunteers to train the adolescents in knitting and weaving,” said Kanika Kapoor, another student.