Training can work wonders for indigenous skilled workers and Silla village of Nuapada, Odisha, sets a fine example.
Ten years ago, a handful of Sabar and Santhali women took up weaving mats and making brooms from the dried leaves of date palm. They would put together the long stalks haphazardly, without aligning colour or length. Naturally, the rough finished products would bring in meagre earnings.
The tribals came to the notice of Prateeksha, which provides support for non-farm livelihood. The NGO taught the women to prune the stalks before sorting and aligning them properly for a neat and better-looking product.
Prateeksha formed an Adivasi Mahila Mandal of some 15 women. “We trained them for two days with help from the Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS),” says the NGO’s chairman, Vijayaraj. “The Department of Panchayati Raj sanctioned nearly Rs 3 lakh for it, under the Swarna Jayanti Swarojgar Yojana.”
An NGO has formed an Adivasi Mahila Mandal and taught its members to prune date palm leaves before sorting and aligning them properly to make brooms and mats
A member of the mandal says, “We learned how to make attractive brooms and mats, toys and utility items.”
As their success grew, more women joined the enterprise. Inspired by the mandal, 15 other women formed the Jhuladevi self-help group. “Each of us earns about Rs 15,000 per month,” shares a member of Jhuladevi. “This income can shoot up to over Rs 25,000 when we sell plastic items along with our leaf products!”
Prateeksha’s Vijayaraj, however, feels there is still a lot of unrealised potential. He believes ORMAS’ support can boost the sluggish sale of indigenously-made natural products toys.
“The government has not yet done anything significant to prop it up commercially,” he points out. “ORMAS and the Department of Panchayati Raj only helped during the initial period.”
Be that as it may, for the 30-odd trained tribal women now working on palm leaf products in the area, a little bit of skill development has made all the difference.
