Kudumbasree has launched its first ayalkoottam (neighbourhood group) exclusively for the wives of guest workers at Edayar, an industrial area here.
Sixteen housewives from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, who have undergone a 32-day training in stitching, will now set up two stitching units that will be registered as startup microenterprises – named Bismillah and Lakshmi – under the Ernakulam District Mission of Kudumbasree.
The unique ayalkoottam came into being as a means to draw the children of migrant labourers in the region to the Government High School, Binanipuram, where the district administration piloted a project named Roshni, to circumvent the language barrier to educate these children. “We thought it would be good to bring in their mothers too and train them in stitching. Better still if it could be turned into a livelihood opportunity. That’s how Kudumbasree chipped in,” explains Jayasree Kulakkunnath, teacher at the school and academic coordinator of Roshni.
Named Mahalakshmi
On March 28, Kudumbasree’s Kadungalloor Community Development Society (CDS) registered the ayalkoottam , which is now being named Mahalakshmi.
But language posed a challenge for Kudumbasree in training the women. “They only understood Hindi, Bhojpuri or Urdu and we could not get an agency to train them until we came across Amet,” says T.M. Rajeena, assistant district mission coordinator of Kudumbasree.
The group of 16 received their certificates in basic tailoring on June 20. For many like Abida Khatum, president of the ayalkoottam and the Bismillah startup unit, it was their first-ever course certificate. The Bihar native’s daughter Mubasra is in Class 8, while her son Dilshad is a Class 10 student. Her husband works in a chemical unit at Edayar.
“Till now I was doing only household chores. Now I can look forward to supporting the family better,” she says, hoping to rope in more housewives in Thandirikkal Colony which hosts the venture.
The group has struck a chord with Simi V.P., Alangad block coordinator of Kudumbasree, and Sheena Rajeesh, Kudumbasree CDS chairperson at Kadungalloor, and treats them as an extended family. “Once the units are registered as micro enterprises, startup funds will be issued and we will buy 16 tailoring machines via a tendering process. We are taking a risk, but we are confident of empowering them and making positive strides in inclusiveness ourselves,” says Rajeena.
