Chhattisgarh tribals start garment factory in Maoist-hit area, name brand DANNEX

Sixty-year-old Kalawati, hailing from Maoist-affected Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh, has joined the Nawa Dantewada Garment factory (NDGF), started by local tribals, to manufacture clothes under a new brand name of DANNEX.

“I hope that our brand will be famous and more and more women of Dantewada would get employment here,” said an elated Kalawati, who now works in shifts in the factory.

Around 300 tribals, mostly women, from Bastar’s Dantewada district have started a garment factory with the help of district administration and will now stitch uniforms for paramilitary forces with the brand name, ‘DANNEX’, which is an abbreviation for Dantewada Next, representing the progressive ambitions of the community.

The brand will not only produce readymade products but also cater to tailoring services based on demand. With the help of the district administration, the factory has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED), National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), paramilitary forces along with brands from Bangalore and Hyderabad.

These organisations will place orders for tailoring services and also purchase readymade DANNEX products, officials said.

“The project aims to make Dantewada a garment hub in the region. Initially, four new garment factories will be established which will provide employment opportunities to 1000 households. This will be done on a cluster approach. Clusters have been identified based on the availability of skilled and unskilled human resources in the district. The next step is the installation of machines—up to 100 per unit-- at the nearest available infrastructure. Nawa Dantewada Garment factory (NDGF) is the first such cluster established in the Geedam block,” said Dantewada collector Deepak Soni, while talking to HT.

The tribal women working in the factory are happy with the earnings from the factory and hope that their brand becomes the cultural identity of the region.

“The women are engaged in tailoring while some men are working in marketing of the products,” said Shushila Netam.

The NDGF has not been officially inaugurated till now but the women and men from nearby gram panchayats have started working. The unit at Geedam has generated employment for 300 families till now; the project aims to employ at least 1000 families of the district in all the four units to come up.

“Our aim is to make Dantewada a garment hub and to create employment opportunities for the local people. It will also help in poverty alleviation by ensuring employment opportunities to the local and in creating the district’s brand, showcasing the rich tribal heritage and culture of the region,” Soni said.