Recasting Citizenship for Development - File UPI

356 SHOBHITA RAJAGOPAL
(Box 16.3 continued)
Earlier, when they used to perform this task by hand, they produced
less and it was laborious.
The women said that the project had ‘made them financially stronger’,
and that group members were in a position to save some of their
earnings. Due to restrictions on their mobility, it is the men of the
household who sell the finished product in the market. Sometimes a
truck is hired collectively to take the products to the market. The
women leaders of the munjban group had collectively applied for
the repair of the well and the installation of a hand pump in their
village.
(Source: Process Monitoring reports, IDS 2003–04).
technology, that is, the diesel-powered crushing machine. The women
already had the necessary information related to the raw material, the
market and networks. This made it easier for these poor households to
reap some benefits.
In contrast, the experience of groups that have identified other sets of
activities has not been so positive. For example, tailoring has been promoted
in DPIP as a sub-project activity, which includes manufacturing
garments and embroidery work. Many women’s CIGs have taken up tailoring
of readymade garments as an activity across districts. Most of these
women received three months of skills training from a ‘Master Trainer’
(in most cases a man), from whom they learnt to cut and stitch garments
for women, men and children. The training given to the members was
designed for learning rudimentary skills in stitching and cutting. Many
of the groups have not produced any items for sale. They are only stitching
some garments for daily use. The local markets are small, and these groups
do not have a niche. The training has not given them the confidence to
undertake production for the market, and they have not been able to establish
market linkages. Very few women have learnt the art of ‘cutting’. The
women feel that since they are not equipped with reading and writing
skills, they are not able to deal with scales of measurement. No efforts
have been made during the training process to create alternative ways of
teaching women with minimal levels of literacy. In the local market, to
which these groups have access, cutting is a valued activity, and there are