Aakriti: The gleaming beacon of Saksham Bharat
Saksham Bharat is our livelihood initiative with the core purpose of imparting relevant vocational training to the rural youth and helping improve their skill set. These skills will help open up avenues for diversified sources of livelihood. The programme which started back in 2011, also focuses on providing training to women and empowering them to independently support their families. The most promising section of this initiative has been reflected in training rural women master stitching and embroidery.
The success of this initiative lies in the following facts and figures over the course of the last 6 years:
- 425 rural women started training and 112 started earning through their own home-based enterprise or associated with other tailoring institutes.
- 12 women established an enterprise ‘Aakriti’ in 2015 and registered as Self Help Group (having a bank account, PAN number and GST Registration)
Akriti is proof of what an empowered and skilled group of women can achieve. With the objective of creating collaboration, Madhumita Basu, Chief of Sales, Marketing and Innovation visited Aakriti Centre in Mangrol village. First she enquired about the products that they are stitching and developing. She also discussed in detail with the coordinator and the members of Aakriti group about the various options on how to build an association with them.
A through appraisal of the association gave us the following insights into its operations:
- They manufacture industrial products like safety jackets, fashion garments and bags.
- They supply Safety Jackets to neighbouring industrial entities like CCP, J K Cement and other local contractors.
- They also supply finished products to ‘Fabindia’, a prominent garment outlet chain that has presence across India and abroad.
Aakriti’s business in 2016-17 generated gross earnings of Rs. 7 lakhs. In 2017-18 (till Oct 2017) it has grossed up Rs. 5 lakhs already which gives a promise of a brighter future ahead.
