Jehangir Rashid
SRINAGAR: Shahnaza Bano was barely out of school, when she chose her own path to empowerment. Hailing from Sogam in Kupwara, steeped in poverty and backwardness, this was not an easy road. Now at the age of 32, as a master weaver at the weaving unit of a centre supported by a non-government organisation, she is confident and satisfied. The roadblocks that she overcame in her journey, her tribulations and struggles now seem small.
After passing her matriculation examination, Shahnaza enrolled herself for a computer course at Khumriyal-Kupwara with the support of Kashmir based NGO, HELP Foundation and enrolled for a computer course. In 2012, HELP Foundation partnered with Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), which is geared to empowering women across India through imparting training in different skills and encouraging women to earn sustainable incomes while working from their own locations.
Shahnaza was among the 125 girls who were selected for the training program in Ahmedabad under the HELP Foundation-SEWA partnership. The initial steps were extremely difficult. Hailing from a conservative family, her parents were completely hostile to the idea of sending her outside.
Her relatives taunted her and pressurised her father. “’She will change her religion in lieu of some money’, they would mock,” she says. “My mother would tell her that if she goes out, the family would have to face social boycott,” she adds. But Shahnaza was determined and convinced that she wasn’t doing anything wrong. Despite the skepticism of the people around her, she went ahead with her plan and attended the training programme of SEWA. She received orientation training during her one month stay in Ahmedabad.
When she came back, things hadn’t changed in her village. Her parents were still unhappy with her decision. The family did face social boycott of a kind as relatives and neighbours would hurl invectives on them and look down upon them.
Shahnaza was disappointed but not willing to give up. “After my return, I joined extensive skill training in trades like weaving, stitching and other home-based skills. Today, I am the in-charge of weaving unit at the Shehjar Kupwara Centre (set up under the HELP Foundation-SEWA partnership) which has trained 3,000 girls and women in the last one decade,” she says with pride.
Her self-confidence is boosted by the fact that those who criticised her a decade ago now look up to her with admiration.
“My father is a changed man now and he says that I am equivalent to seven sons,” she says. Her relatives and neighbours, who shunned her, now think of her as courageous and treat her with great respect. Some years ago, she got married and moved to Lolab but she continues to work at the Centre as a master trainer. Life is still not easy, as she shuttles between her work place and her new home but she manages to continue.
When she looks back, she is thankful for the opportunity that the Shehjar centre offered to her to change her destiny as well as that of many other women. As in-charge of her unit, she gets a monthly salary of Rs. 10,500. The master trainers under her earn around Rs. 4,000 per month. Over and above this, whatever she stitches and sells, she earns profits from that.
Shahnaza’s battle was not quite a lonely one. There were many other women who joined the centre and fought their own little battles for earning sustainable incomes and steadfastly continue to do so. Their claim is they have inspired many other women to become a part of the self-empowerment program that enables them to work from their homes.
Showkat Ahmad Bhat, Project Manager, Shehjar Community Resource Centre opines that by giving skill-based training to the girls and women SEWA is rendering a yeoman service in empowerment of women.
The idea of empowering women from this remote district, which has been a hot-bed of militancy, in collaboration with SEWA was the brainchild of the Army and the Ministry of Home Affairs who were keen to introduce pro-active measures to promote economic empowerment as an anti-dote to militancy.
“This centre has been given to us by the Ministry of Home Affairs,” says Showkat. He adds, “As soon as Shehjar District Association Kupwara came into being we worked with a local NGO namely Help Foundation. Since SEWA was working in at least 18 states of India, the NGO was approached by the army and they wanted SEWA to extend its work in Kupwara district of Kashmir valley so that the girls or women are empowered since the district was badly hit by militancy. It was due to this reason that SEWA’s founder Ela Bhatt approached the Home Ministry for providing space to Shehjar District Association Kupwara which was finally allotted to them.”
Militancy in the area may still be a problem to reckon with but those associated with the Centre argue that at least the scheme helped to economically ameliorate the lives of several women. A few women connected with the Shehjar Centre seemed to endorse this.
Shameema Begum is the President, Shehjar District Association Kupwara. In 2012, when she got involved with SEWA, she chose a different field of activity – food processing. To her good fortune, she did not face the initial obstacles as did Shahnaza. A resident of Gulgam-Kupwara, Shameema says, “I got full support from my family. I took one month training in food processing in Ahmedabad, and this was followed by advanced training in the subsequent years. Today, I have a small unit at my home and there I train some girls from my village.”
Shameema started her journey by making pickles and apple jam and with the passage of time she has added snacks and modern bakery items to her list of products. She received training in preparation of donuts, chocolate cakes, chocolate dates, muffins and pastries. She passed on the skills to the young girls at the food processing unit at Shehjar Kupwara.
“The food processing unit started its operations from making of Samosas, Mathis and other snacks. With the passage of time, we have been able to move forward since we have to keep pace with the time,” said Shameema. She has trained almost 800 girls or women in her village in food processing and she is also involved with the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).
For many women, she is a source of inspiration. Among them is Shafia and Nusrat, residents of Lolab. Both received training in food processing and baking. They focus on modern bakery items, supplying them to local outlets in Kupwara on a daily basis.
The women associated with the Shehjar Community Resource Centre are today a community of their own. The Centre provides skill training in various skills like stitching, food processing and handicrafts. The community is growing strongly and helping women to become masters of their own destiny through use of their different skills. The Centre helps in finding markets for their products. Some of them are now also reaching out to interested local buyers and expanding their businesses.
For instance, Shireen Begum, in-charge handicrafts centre, says that she has trained more than 1500 girls in the handicrafts sector at the centre.
“We provide basic training to the girls at this centre and they are able to make different hand-made items. Once they get the basic skills then they upgrade to the higher levels following which they make designer items like wall hangings, bags, mobile pouches, apparels and many more,” says Shireen, a resident of far flung Tangdhar area.
Shaheen Qayoom, Khalida, Tasleema, Safeena and Afsana, who are now adept at different handicraft skills proudly reveal that some time back they received an order from the famous fashion designer, Ritu Kumar. Their handicrafts are now on sale at her many outlets across the country. Such success stories are also inspiring the women at the Shehjar Centre to innovate, improve and learn new things.
Ruqaya Abdullah, in-charge stitching centre says that once the girls know about the basics, they innovate and develop their own designs while making dresses for kids, women and men.
“You should not expect a girl or a woman to become a full-fledged tailor in two or three months. It takes time to do so. At this centre we provide basic training to the trainees. In the first month theory is taught, and this is followed by practical training from second month onwards. At the end of the training programme, the trainees are able to make a simple Kameez Salwar, kids wear or gents wear,” said Ruqaya.
Some time back the trainees at the stitching centre were given three-hour online training to make wallets and at the end of the session they were able to prepare 100 wallets. Around 1,000 girls or women have received training at this advanced stitching centre and they are now making or preparing dresses at their respective homes.
Some men are also part of this growing community. Mohammad Qasim Malik who is the master trainer at the advanced stitching unit said that they receive orders from different people. They also received orders from Border Security Force, Jammu & Kashmir Police and Army for making of uniforms.
But it is mostly women who are at the forefront. Rukaya Farooq, Coordinator, Shehjar Community Resource Centre of Kupwara says that SEWA has motivated women who have not got any education to take up challenges in life and excel as a source of livelihood for their family. She maintains that over the past one decade or so the Shehjaar Centre at Kupwara has impacted 6,400 women.
Showkat is hopeful of a bigger impact as Shehjar centres in collaboration with SEWA have been mooted in several other districts. “One more centre in Ganderbal is already operational,” he says and adds, “the baseline survey is almost done in Baramulla, Bandipora and Budgam districts. As such, more Shehjar centres are expected to come up in near future in these three districts. This will give wings to the dreams of girls or women of these districts,” he says with optimism.
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