Trafficking victims turn to jewellery making

Jyotika Bhatia, 24, interned at a shelter for women rescued from a human trafficking racket in the city last year. Her experience made her realise that she wanted to help them in the long run.

Jyotika Bhatia, 24, interned at a shelter for women rescued from a human trafficking racket in the city last year. Her experience made her realise that she wanted to help them in the long run.

Bhatia, along with two other management students, is now generating employment and livelihood skills through their social enterprise, Srujna.

HT Image

“Srujna was started last year to train the women in making artificial jewellery,” said Bhatia, a student of social entrepreneurship at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Vile Parle. Today, their products are being sold to export dealers under the brand ‘Beads and You’, priced between Rs30 and Rs1000.

Bhatia and her partners, Vaishali Gandhi and Ronak Gandhi, have also planned to take their model to a slum in Vakola. “Livelihood generation was important to help people stand on their feet, and this is what we are doing through Srujna,” said Vaishali. Ronak, a student of Welingkar Institute, Dadar, joined the team a few months after its inception.

Srujna has received accolades for their business model. In March, the team won the ‘Largest Social Impact Prize’ at the Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition, held by the University of Washington.

While the enterprise survives on revenue-generated funds, it also receives support from UnLtd India, an organisation that offers aid to social entrepreneurs.

“These youngsters have found a way to help people who have been denied employment opportunities,” said Roshan Dsouza from UnLtd India.