Creating Livelihood for 15 women in Kadur through garment-making unit

Kadur, which is a dry belt, is mostly dependent on monsoons, which have been failing consistently. Tamarind and Areca nut-peeling business are the primary jobs of the women here, and are seasonal and employ the women for a maximum of 5 months in a year. Therefore almost 7-8 months in a year, the rural women are unemployed.

Due to very low wages, as being a drought-stricken area, families migrate to estates and Malnad region where there is a demand for areca peelers. Hence, migration is high, creating more problems such as illiteracy, school dropouts and no sustainable income to the families.

CMSSS for the past 40 years have been successful in bringing the women together through SHGs, but the major problem remains unsolved. Therefore we have trained almost 50 women in garment making, and the primary concern now is to provide them jobs without which the skills gained will again go in vain. Without providing a sustainable livelihood solution, the problem can never be solved in this area.

Till date, sustainable livelihood efforts have primarily been centred around agriculture and allied sectors. We will now need to shift emphasis to other avenues such as skill development, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

CMSSS has trained 60 women in the skill of garment making through various funding agencies and identified more than 100 others who have learnt this skill.

Kadur and Birur are favourable places in terms of transport connectivity and workforce available. We have also identified two trades of uniform making and bag making, for which a minimum training is sufficient and with the infrastructure already available with little reinforcements, the unit will be set up easily.

The market for uniforms and Bags has already been created by collaborating with local schools and institutions.

Therefore the setting up of these units will involve training of the master trainer, who in turn will train other women, setting up of machinery and production-cum-training model setup.

The migration problem will be addressed in the long run by creating permanent, sustainable income. Dropout rate will be controlled will reduced migration.

With the creation of a source of income, the leisure time will be utilised in cultivation of land or animal husbandry.

Twenty women will be trained in the skill of uniform making ready for production.

Fifteen women will be employed in the uniform making unit in the training cum production model with monthly income above Rs. 10, 000/- each by the end of 4 months.

The profit earned by the unit will be utilised in setting up of more tailoring units creating more employment opportunities around Kadur.

The profit will be utilised through the women's federation for micro-financing for more and more individual and group income generation activities in the SHGs.