Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 12: Reasi women have gotten space in the Union Ministry of Rural Development’s `Inspirational Stories of Atamnirbhar Women’ for revival of traditional craft of making grass products in block Pouni of the district.
Traditional grass handicrafts are considered to be major avenue of the cultural heritage in the rural areas of Jammu & Kashmir, transferred from one generation to the other. It is an artisanal work where useful and decorative products are made completely manually, using simple tools only and raw material like grass, palm leaves which are easily available.
Many Self Help Group (SHG) women were involved in this work in an unorganised way and generally used to make them for domestic use and if at all sold it was at an abysmally low rate. However, with increased demand of eco-friendly products, they fetch higher prices now.
After identifying the scope of this livelihood activity, surveys were conducted by Jammu Kashmir Rural Livelihood Mission (JKRLM) to identify the women artisans and after identification, grass handicrafts workshops were conducted in the rural villages, like Kheral, Malair and Saloon in the district of Reasi.
Identified SHG members were trained on this traditional handicraft and many skill development trainings were imparted to support and increase their capacities. This has in turn promoted premium grass handicraft product for the market, expansion of production base for utility based, life style and mass production handicrafts products.
100 SHG members of “Naari Ki Pehchaan Cluster Level Federation” are involved in the activity. Financial support for training and raw material is being provided by JKRLM.
Many workshops are organized at rural and urban level that enhanced the skills and also the knowledge of the SHG members. Skill showcase, design education, creative and product development workshops followed by the pricing, marketing, branding and micro financing etc were organised for the women to make them equipped to do business successfully. They were also made to understand promotional strategies for the modern market and understand space of their products in the market and fixing of price according to that. They were made updated and trained to adopt strategies to mix old and new designs to strike a balance.
Handholding support was provided to increase interaction with the online shopping sites and Government departments for sale of the products, which also helped the SHG members to know about the consumer preferences.
This venture has played a key role in empowering SHG women who are now confident of their skill and have become financially independent. The response to the products from the market has been overwhelming and the group has delivered orders to many Government departments. Many online shopping sites, universities and many other rural and urban customers are amongst their clientele. The turnover of Rs 1.25 lakh in a span of 6 months only with input cost of Rs 10,000 only , speaks of the endeavour.
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