bamboo handicraft training session – leveraging ... · 6!! the next steps!– scaling the...
TRANSCRIPT
www.swaniti.in
Kathalbari Village Committee (VC) (Census Code: 272500) is an Autonomous District Council (ADC) village under the Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District Council (TTAADC). It is located in Ambassa Block of Dhalai district and is part of the Tripura East Lok Sabha Constituency. The Work Participation Rate (WPR) is 40.4; the WPR of males is 48.3 and that of females is 32.1. Here, 65 percent of the workers describe their work as Main Work (earning for >6 months) and 45 percent of the workers are involved in agriculture as cultivators or agricultural labourers. Moreover, there are 199 households, who practice the Jhum/Slash & Burn method of cultivation.
Due to the paucity of consistent job opportunities and a steady source of income, it is important to leverage the existing natural and human resources and also equip the population with the additional skills required to explore alternative sources of livelihood. Moreover, this is specifically important for the households involved in Jhum cultivation.
Bamboo Handicraft Training Session – Leveraging Institutions to Create Livelihood Opportunity Enhancing Livelihood Opportunities
Mr. Jitendra Chaudhury has identified Kathalbari, a GP in Ambassa Block for development as an Adarsh Gram under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY). When Mr. Chaudhury outlined his vision for the development of Kathalbari, he placed special emphasis on the participation of the community so as to empower the people to come up with local solutions to local problems. It is in line with this vision that Swaniti team worked on exploring potential avenues to engage the rural people in Kathalbari and augment their incomes; one of the possibilities was to provide training to interested 16 participants under Bamboo Handicraft as form of alternative source of livelihood and wider dissemination of skills, thus implementing the Phase I process of providing employment opportunity to villagers in Kathalbari.
Mr. Jitendra Chaudhury (MP, Tripura East) SAGY Development Programme in Kathalbari VC
“With the lack of steady job opportunities in and around the village, initiating Bamboo Handicraft Training Session would be taking one step towards creating an alternative livelihood option for the people in Kathalbari VC”.
-‐ Mrs. Menaxshi Reang, PRI member, Kathalbari Para, Kathalbari VC
2
Outlining the Vision – Develop Human Capital
Swaniti Initiative, in partnership with Mr. Jitendra Chaudhury, the Honourable MP representing Tripura East Constituency in Lok Sabha launched the SAGY Development Programme (SDP) in Kathalbari Village Committee (VC) in June 2016. During the interaction with Swaniti Initiative, Mr. Chaudhury expressed his desire to develop Kathalbari in a holistic manner. He stated that one of the most crucial components for achieving the same would be to introduce skills that would create employment opportunity for both men and women in the village. Keeping his vision in mind, Swaniti Initiative focused on identifying alternative sources of livelihood for the people in the village and exploring the possibility of partnering with reputed organizations to create a platform that would provide employment and income generating source for the people in Kathalbari VC.
Partnering with United Bank of India – RSETI and Indo-German Development
Cooperation – Developing Institutional Partnerships
During the visit in month of November 2016, the team observed that even with availability of bamboo in the area, the villagers did not have the skill to create valuable products out of it, which could be used for both commercial and domestic purpose. Tripura has the third highest bamboo bearing area in the country as percentage of the total geographical area; 62.82 percent of the bamboo bearing area in Tripura is comprised of pure and dense bamboo, the second highest percentage of pure and dense bamboo plantation in the country. Thus, the team after a discussion with the Panchayat Raj Institute (PRI) members and villagers of Kathalbari VC, decided to organise a Bamboo Handicraft Training Session in collaboration with UBI-‐Rural Self Employment Training Institute (RSETI) and Indo-‐German Development Cooperation (IGDC). Both these organisations have been extensively working to enhance livelihood opportunities for the rural and forest dependent communities in Tripura. Hence, partnering with these organisations would pave the path towards commencing this initiative in a successful manner.
The Bamboo Handicraft Training Session – Creating Alternative Source of Livelihood
through Traditional Methods
To outline the next step, the team met Mr. Swapan Barma, Director, UBI-‐RSETI and Mr. Bablu Mog, ADPO, IGDC to discuss the possibility of collaborating for the project and initiating the bamboo handicraft
UBI-‐RSETI IGDC
Conduct 15 days residential Bamboo Handicraft Training programme
Sponsoring the training session; a stipend of INR 700 to each trainee
3
training session. Based on extensive discussions with the two institutions and taking into consideration the inputs and feedback received from different stakeholders, the team prepared a proposal, incorporating the problem statement, objectives and proposed steps to resolve the gaps observed. The said proposal was submitted to Mr. Chaudhury for his approval. After receiving his approval, the team met Mr. A.K Gupta, CEO & PD, IGDC in Agartala to share the proposal and discussed the scope of providing stipend (INR 700 each) as an incentive for the trainees. Upon due consideration of the submitted proposal and post a detailed discussion with Mr. Chaudhury and the team, Mr. A.K Gupta agreed to participate in the programme as the funding partner.
Post this, the Director of UBI-‐RSETI worked with the team to finalize the logistics pertaining to the training session. It was decided that the training would be conducted for a batch of 15 people for 15 days. Keeping in mind the availability of the villagers and in order to avoid overlap between MGNREGA’s working days, the Director finalized a two-‐week period between 23rd December and 6th January to conduct the training session. He also introduced the team to Mr. Rakhal Sutradhar, Master Trainer, who outlined the advantage of offering such training to the villagers and the scope for creating market linkages in Agartala. Mr. Sutradhar stated that this unique initiative would not only enable the training of individual but also result in wider dissemination of skills, offering a sustainable source of livelihood for the villagers and augment their income, thus empowering them and society at large.
Objectives of the Training Session
The training session was initiated in line with the below-‐mentioned objectives:
• Training session would not jus t prov ide an alternative source of sustainable livelihood for the peop le but a l so p r o m o t e h i n a n c i a l i n d e p e n d e n c e a n d entrepreneurship; the training concept would also encourage wider s c op e o f e nh an c i n g traditional skill among the people in Kathalbari.
Create Sustainable Source of Livelihood
• The newly formed Mahila Mandal is a unique group formed to empower the young women of Kathalbari. The training would facilitate and enhance them with the additional skill to prepare v a r i o u s B a m b o o Handicrafts. This would help incorporate enterpreneur skill among the participants.
Empowering Women Community • It would go a long way in
developing Kathalbari as an Adarsh Gram, since it would help the trained candidates play an even more active role in the decision making process in VC as they would be c o n h i d e n t a n d economically liberated. This would result in economic development for the entire VC and overall social development.
Taking a Step forward to create an Adarsh Gram
4
The Participants and the Training Module
Once these details had been finalized, the team worked on identifying the participants in consultation with the villagers and the PRI members. The focus was to bring in young participants, especially women and girls and train them to create bamboo handicrafts. Accordingly, the team focused on creating awareness about the session and the VC Office made an announcement across all the wards. Subsequently, 20 interested people register themselves for the session and 16 of them attended the complete session, which was also a residential training programme conducted at the RSETI itself. The list of participants is attached in Annexure I.
The Director of UBI-‐RSETI designed the course module of the session. The course contained a detailed explanation of crafting bamboo products both in theory and practise. Apart from this, a special class on marketing and strategy was also included in the course. This was in line with creating entrepreneurial skills among the trainees. The course module of the session is attached herewith as Annexure II.
Ice Breaking Session conducted to introduce the trainees
Master Trainer teaching to craft the Bamboo Interactive Session with the Trainees and Master Trainer
Mr. Babu Mog, IGDC addressing the trainees
5
Final Bamboo Products produced during the Training Session During the training session, 16 participants were divided in four groups. The master trainer during the training period, taught them to identify different types of bamboo, use appropriate equipment required to make various bamboo products, provided details on various designs and style etc. As per the course schedule, by end of training session, the participants prepared bamboo curtains, bamboo baskets of small, medium and large sizes, bamboo flowers and vases, bamboo ashtrays and bamboo sitting stools (known as mura). These products can be broadly categorised as wood substitutes and composite. Thus, the utility of these products is just not limited to domestic use. These products are in high demand and can be sold at profit-‐making price, if produced in bulk.
First Phase of crafting the Bamboo Bamboo Flowers and Vases prepared by the Trainees
16
11,200 Participants across 4 habitations of Kathalbari VC participated in the 15-days Residential Training Session
Thousand Rupees funded by IGDC; stipend of INR 700 was provided to each trainee as an incentive
6
The Next Steps – Scaling the Training Session and Creating Market Linkage for the
Community
Annexure I: List of the Trainees participated in Bamboo Handicraft Training Session
S. No. Name of the Trainees Habitations
1. Mr. Mitraham Reang, S/O, Biswaram Reang Satyaram Chaudhury para
2. Ms. Janita Reang, D/O, Udaiham Reang Satyaram Chaudhury para
3. Mr. Majendro Reang, S/O Garamjoy Reang Satyaram Chaudhury para
4. Mr. Tapan Debbarma, S/O Sukharam Debbarma Satyaram Chaudhury para
Inculcating Skills
Market Linkage
Livelihood Generation
To create market platform for the trainees, Swaniti is in touch with an NGO, Dishari. As per discussions, it was decided that Dishari would support interested candidates by providing market space to sell the handicraft products they prepare. With these skills and option of
market linkage, a source of income generation has been provided. This would generate sustainable employment through backward and forward integration of rural bamboo-based enterprise development, thereby increasing the income of the households of the rural poor.
With the availability of bamboo as an input, the trainees now can prepare the bamboo products for domestic and commercial purpose
7
5. Ms. Sanjana Reang, D/O Ram Guna Reang Satyaram Chaudhury para
6. Mr. Rifrusai Mog, S/O Chafru Mog Mog Para
7. Ms. Mama Mog, D/O Thogri Mog Mog Para
8. Ms. Paima Mog, D/O Mrasathai Mog Mog Para
9. Mr, Gouranga Kalai, S/O Lt. Sarat Kalai Jinerai Para
10 Mr. Dharensa Tripura, S/O Lt. Nipendra Tripura Jinerai Para
11 Mr. Hlachaching Mog, D/O Lt. Ankiojoy Mog Satyaram Chaudhuru Para
12 Ms. Nisha Reang, D/O Lt. Rabindra Reang Kathalbari Para
13 Ms. Ashabati Reang, D/O Fanindra Reang Kathalbari Para
14 Mr. Bajirai Reang, S/O Garamjoy Reang Satyaram Chaudhury Para
15 Mr. Niranjoy Reang, S/O Khunangrai Reang Satyaram Chaudhury para
16 Mr. Mitraham Reang, S/O Biswaram Reang Satyaram Chaudhury para
Annexure II: The Course Module of the Bamboo Handicraft Training Session
DAY DATE SESSIONS SUBJECTS FACILITATOR
01 23.12.2016 I,II,III & IV
Registration & Inauguration
Micro-‐lab & Ice-‐Breaking Exercise
Achievement Motivation-‐Confidence building
DIR/VIPs
DIR
DIR
02 24.12.2016 I,II,III & IV
Entrepreneurial Competencies-‐Explain with examples
Eradication of Dependency Syndrome-‐Tower Building exercise
DIR
DIR
03 25.12.2016 I,II,III & IV Introduction to Bamboo/Cane product-‐ Scope RS-‐MT
8
Use of bamboo & cane products, selection of products, selection of products, raw materials
availability
Theory on preparation of photo frame
Practical of photo frame
RS-‐MT
RS-‐MT
RS-‐MT
04 26.12.2016 I to IV Practical of Photo Frame RS-‐MT
05 27.12.2016 I,II,III & IV
Time Management
Theory on preparation of boat of different size i.e. small, medium and big
Practical of small size boat
DIR/ARC
RS-‐MT
RS-‐MT
06 28.12.2016 I
II to IV
Practical of small size boat
Practical of medium size boat
RS-‐MT
RS-‐MT
07 29.12.2016 I
II to IV
Practical of medium size boat
Practical of big size boat
RS-‐MT
RS-‐MT
08 30.12.2016 I,II,III & IV
Practical of big size boat
Theory-‐ Preparation of Flower Vases-‐Stand piece and wall piece type
Practical of preparation of Flower Vase-‐ Stand piece type
RS-‐MT
RS-‐MT
RS-‐MT
09 31.12.2016 I to IV Practical of Flower Vase-‐ Stand piece type RS-‐MT
10 01.01.2017 I
II to IV
Effective communication skills
Practical of preparation of Flower Vase-‐ Wall piece type
DIR/ARC
RS-‐MT
11 02.01.2017 I Theory on preparation of cane chair RS-‐MT
9
II to IV Practical of preparation of cane chair RS-‐MT
12 03.01.2017 I, II, III & IV
Practical of preparation of acne chair
Theory-‐ preparation of basket
Practical on preparation of basket
RS-‐MT
RS-‐MT
RS-‐MT
13 04.01.2017 I to III
IV
Practical of preparation of basket
Marketing management-‐4Ps of marketing, managing the customer
RS-‐MT
DIR/ARC
14 05.01.2017 I, II, III & IV
Maintenance of records & book keeping-‐methodology
Costing, pricing-‐ Fixed Cost-‐Variable Cost, Break-‐even point etc.
Banking-‐deposits & advances, lending schemes/Govt. schemes
DIR/ARC
DIR
DIR/ARC
15 06.01.2017 I & II
III & IV
Business plan/project report Preparation-‐Practical
Feedback/ Valedictory
DIR
DIR/VIPs
DIR – Director of RSETI, Mr. Swapan Barma, RS-‐MT-‐Master Trainer (Mr. Rakhal Sutradhar), ARC-‐ Faculty, Mr. Arindam Roy Choudhury