Devshakti provides training, and secures a future for local women

It was just sheer grit and determination that helped Shivkumari overcome her circumstances. Today, from her hand-to-mouth existence of yesteryears, Shivkumari has metamorphosed into a confident woman who is not only economically independent but also creates avenues for a modest income for hundreds of rural women. The Devshakti Takniki Shikshan evam Prashikshan Samaj Kalyan Samiti, started by her, has so far trained 10,000-odd women in making hand-crafted items in terracotta, jute, bamboo and leather.

More importantly, the women are looked after even after the training. The handicrafts produced are marketed by the samiti—more than half the proceeds go to the cratftswomen. The samiti is doing well. Recently, it even received a Rs 1 crore order from Holland. "I don’t know if we’ll be able to fulfil the order. They want samples, which will cost Rs 60,000. We can’t spare that much money," Shivkumari says ruefully.

Orphaned at the age of five, her childhood was spent with a villainous relative in Jabalpur. "I was thrashed at the slightest pretext," she remembers. "Food was scarce, clothes even more so and my schooling was stopped." Another relative, who had adopted her after birth, freed her from the clutches of her aunt. Earlier, her father had given her up for adoption to protect her from a "jinx". "Female children did not survive in our family. My father thought if someone adopted me, I would be freed from the shraap (curse)," she explains.

"My adopted mother did menial jobs to fund my education but she never complained," says Shivkumari. After passing her matriculation exams, she got herself enrolled in a nine-month training course in handicrafts, run by a government institution. A Rs 150 per month stipend saw her through the training course and at the end of it, she was picked up for appointment as a trainer. "I was the only girl to be selected among the fifty trainees," she says. On a monthly salary of Rs 600 she was posted in Piparia, a small town about 100 km from Jabalpur. Several transfers and many years down the line, she started getting disillusioned. "I found the girls whom I trained so assiduously had nothing to do once they had completed the course. No jobs, no business potential, nothing," she says.

That’s when she decided to quit her job. "I wanted to create an institution which wouldn’t train girls and then forget about them," she says. Her husband—she got married during her posting in Bhopal—came to her aid. He sold his TV and fridge repair shop to help expand the Devshakti samiti, started by her after she quit her job. The couple settled down at Semara Kala, a small village near Bhopal. The Devshakti samiti got registered three years back.

Shivkumari has not looked back since. Training centres have come up in seven other villages of Bhopal district. The trainee women are paid Rs 300 per month as stipend and, after completion of their course, are associated with the samiti as members. They get raw material from the samiti, which also markets the goods. The trainers are paid Rs 3,000 a month. Orders have been pouring in from as far as Pune and Mumbai. The Bharat Bhavan has placed a substantial order and the samiti’s stall was adjudged the best in the Mamata Mela organised by the Madhya Pradesh government in Bhopal.

The Holland order came through when the samiti put up a stall at the International Trade Fair-2000 in New Delhi. "I am fortunate that my husband and in-laws have no problems with the hectic life that running the samiti entails," she says. She admits that persuading women to join the samiti is a difficult task. After all, it means one pair of hands less for farm and domestic work. And Shivkumari’s not a hypocrite to claim that money means nothing to her. "But I am not just after profits. My main aim is to give rural women confidence and improve their living conditions," she says. For more details, contact: Devshakti Takniki Shikshan evam Prashikshan Samaj Kalyan Samiti, House No. 1, Purushottam Nagar, Semara Kala, Chandbad, Bhopal. Ph: 242487