Handicraft skills of Hardoi women take lifestyle brands by storm

LUCKNOW: She was forced to quit studies as her parents could not afford the expensive private school but Savitri has pledged to support all her children till they achieve a professional degree. Showing her skilled set of fingers, the 38-year old woman in Hardoi’s Madhora village, is confident that she would achieve her dream.
And why not? Beautiful moonj and kaans (locally available wild grass) laundry basket made by her is a sought after product on online shopping sites and elite home stores.The earnings, on one hand, have helped her get rid of the money-lender, she uses the money to pay for the education of her children.

“There is a strange sense of pride in being able to buy new clothes for my children on festivals and gifting new bags or pencil boxes when they get promoted to a new class,” said Savitri who lends a face to some 11,500 women in the district trained under various livelihood programmes undertaken jointly by Samuday Project of the HCL Foundation and state rural development department.
Not just laundry baskets, these women are making shopping bags, tote bags, traveller’s pouch, cosmetics bag, file folder, i-pad sleeves and mini briefcases from upcycled plastic bags. They use discarded cement gunny bags, wash them and embellish them with hand embroidery to make the final products.
The range of Moonj and Kaans includes waste paper basket, gift boxes, wall plates, coasters and file trays. Shibori stoles, silk dupattas, T-shirt and running fabric are also popular with lifestyle brands. Block printed cotton dupattas and stoles are also made by them.
The success of these women can be gauged from the fact that by working for just four hours a day, most of these women are able to earn Rs 3,000 a month which is a handsome contribution to their family economies.
“Our revenue also speaks for the success of our women. It has increased from Rs 22 lakh in 2018-19 to Rs 53.84 lakh in the current year,” said Nirmala Devi, president, Samuday Shakti Sewa Samiti, the umbrella organisation which binds these women together.
Talking about the effort, executive director and CEO, HCL Foundation, Roshni Nadar Mahhotra said: “Encouraging women leadership is central to social transformation and the HCL Samuday has proved this. Every woman associated with it is a story of change that is worth sharing while the model is truly scalable, sustainable and replicable.”
Adding that besides bringing financial independence to women, the efforts have a cascading effect on their personal life and social standing, she said: “Women like Savitri Devi become role models to young girls their neighbourhood which is bound to positively affect the society in due course of time.”
Commissioner, rural development, UP, K Ravindra Naik said: “the story of Hardoi women establishes the power of self-help groups and small savings which are working as an undercurrent of change that promises dignity and self-reliance to women.” He informed that in UP, 38.5 lakh women were associated with 3.5 lakh SHGs.