Footwear made by Pratapgarh rural women getting popular

PRAYAGRAJ: In the Pingari and Hariharpur villages of Pratapgarh district, footwear being indigenously manufactured by rural women are gaining popularity. As many as 22 rural women associated with six self help groups (SHGs) of Pingari village (Kunda block) and Hariharpur village (Bihar block) in neighbouring Pratapgarh district are designing footwear.
The local brand of footwear has become so popular that it has also been attracting customers from other districts like Prayagraj, Sultanpur, Amethi and Rai Bareilly.
Ratan Mishra, district mission manager (Pratapgarh), told TOI, “We have organised a weeklong maiden training camp of footwear-making for women in two villages. In the training camp, the women were taught the entire process of making footwear. The move was initiated under the UP State Rural Livelihood Mission (UPSRLM) last year, and was aimed at facilitating financial independence of rural self-help groups.” He added, “The project started yielding good results within three months when SHGs started receiving orders from the local markets of Pratapgarh and neighbouring districts for slippers.”
“A slipper costs around Rs 30-35, and is being sold at Rs 60 and above, yielding good profits for SHG women associated with the project,” said Mishra. “The women are making specific kinds of footwear as per the requirement of the area and its people,” he added.
More and more rural women are getting attracted towards this enterprise of footwear manufacturing. Many have placed orders for machines required for the purpose. Moreover, demand for the local brand of footwear surges on ‘Haat’ days (street markets set up on weekdays). UPSRLM officials said that the training for footwear-making is part of the authorities’ aim to create employment and empower women in villages. “After the training, they (women) will be able to make footwear not just to meet requirements of their own village but also for neighbouring panchayats. They will soon churn out products for general markets as well,” said an official.
Women groups order raw materials from different cities to make slippers. By the end of every month, over 500 slippers areready for sale. Each slipper is expected to be priced at Rs 65 or 70, and women get a good profit margin. Initially, we have planned to sell the products at local markets in Pratapgarh district before fanning out to other places slowly,” said an official, adding that they have also decided to sell the footwear at cheap rates so that each and every individual is able to afford them.
“We are following the local model by forming small clusters of people and training them to be financially independent,” said Mishra. “We are helping them in the entire process, from raw material shopping to skill training, after which we do market linkages to sell those products.”