Recasting Citizenship for Development - File UPI

354 SHOBHITA RAJAGOPAL
(Box 16.2 continued)
The group purchased various implements/tools such as hammer,
water tub, stool, axe and other materials from the stipulated budget.
The women fetch the raw material, twigs of the khajur (date palm),
using a transport (a cart) from villages within a range of 10 km. The
women usually pool their resources and purchase the raw material,
the twigs, sold at the rate of 50 paise per twig.
The first step is to soak the twigs in water and clean them. They are
then cut into equal sizes and woven into baskets. A shed, where women
can work together, has been proposed, but at present the work is carried
out in individual homes. In a day, the women usually weave two
small baskets and one big one, and they work for about 20 days. The
cost of one small basket works out to Rs 13, and the bigger basket to
Rs 18. These are sold for Rs 20 and Rs 35, respectively. The monthly
income is Rs 750 per member. The women said that the tools supplied
by the project have improved their work efficiency, so they are able to
make more baskets each day. They are now also able to decide the
price for the produce and negotiate with the trader. The baskets are
sold from home, or the trader visits the village and makes the purchase
in bulk. The women go to nearby areas to sell the baskets. However,
men take baskets to be sold in Dausa or other far-off places.
Before the project began, the women members did not have the cash
to buy the raw materials and often took loans from the local moneylender
at high interest rates. Some women had also mortgaged their
jewellery. Many group members articulated that earlier they did not
interact with men (mostly outsiders), but that now they were less inhibited.
While they have to observe purdah in the village, when they
go out of the village the observance reduces.
The women members had utilised the income earned from basket
weaving for various purposes: for repairing and plastering the house,
purchasing goats; and others have used the money for meeting
domestic needs. The women are eager to acquire literacy skills, and
some have learnt to write their names and put their signatures. An
unintended outcome was that all the CIG members wanted their
daughters to be educated, so that they could have a better future.
(Source: ‘Process Monitoring’ Reports, IDS 2003–4).