SHG women find buyers for hand-made Batik products all over India
Bhubaneshwar : Project Hastakala, an economic development programmefor SHG women of Jhagarpur&Katangpanchayat started by Dalmia Cement Bharat Ltd., a subsidiary of Dalmia Bharat Ltd has witnessed success within three months of its launch. Project Hastakala, a unique‘earning with joy’ market-linkedskill development programmewas launched. Around 90 SHG women are being trained in the unique tie & dye batik products and have started retailing products all over Indiathrough participation in several exhibitions including SarasAajeevika Mela in Noida and SARAS mela in Rourkela along withsalesfrom eCommerce platforms like Flipkart. Products worth Rs. 2.5 lakhs have been sold.
The R&R team of DCBL had identified a significant demand-supply gap for Batik products in the area and the primary reason identified was a lack of skilled craftspersons. The current programme will be scaled-up to add120 beneficiaries from peripheral communities with the target of providing a regular income of Rs. 8000 to Rs. 10000 to each. To ensure the sustainability of the project, Dalmia Cement formed 3 nos producer groupsi.e “Ujeevika”, “Aakruti”,”Unnati” and all are registered under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME). The women are now trained to design Handcrafted products like double bedsheets, single bedsheets, dress pieces, scarves, dupattas, stoles, handkerchieves etc.
Company spokesperson, DCBL shared, “There was a high demand in the market for Batik print products butdue to low production,the requirement could not be catered. We saw this as an exciting prospect to build self-employment options for women in surrounding villages near our unit. Project Hastakalais an innovative way of earning with joy and provides a creative alternative for income generation. So far, the range of handmade Batik products has received excellent responses in terms of demand from various exhibitions. We are hopeful Project Hastakala will continue to flourish and encourage many women to participate in future.”
Gauging the participation and enthusiasm of the SHG women, DBCL has also collaborated with NABARD under Livelihood Enterprise Development Programmein Batikand is now conducting2nd batch in KatangGrampanchayat, Odisha.
