Women in the border area of Jhulaghat in Pithoragarh district have put to use their sewing and knitting skills to make brisk income from the thriving India-Nepal trade here. Almost a dozen groups of women aided under the Integrated livelihood Support Project (IlSP) have earned more than Rs 25,00,000 selling their products since September 2015 till date.
A rural settlement situated about 38 kilometres from Pithoragarh, Jhulaghat is on the border with Nepal with the Kali river separating it from the settlement on Nepal’s side where it is also called Jhulaghat. A larger part of the populace settled here practice non-farm livelihoods whereas shops and other businesses dealing in wool, grains and other consumer items are also being run by individuals and families. According to the IlSP Uttarakhand Gramya Vikas Samiti (UGVS)
manager of knowledge management, Anil Maikhuri, the project started here in 2015 with most of the women groups opting for stitching, spinning, knitting and related works. He said, “The groups used their own savings and the IlSP contribution to extend these traditional works in their groups. Some groups installed the latest knitting and sewing machines as a result of which they were able to achieve a substantial improvement in their output and the quality of the products. Also, since they are doing business as a group, their collective output commands better prices during price negotiations. The ‘economy of scale’ has come into operation and as a result they are making better profits, compared to when they were operating as individuals,” informed Maikhuri.
President of the Samiti, Hemlata Oli states that since sewing machines are costly (Rs 5000 to 30,000 each) not every member in the group can buy it at the same time. Considering this, she said that they plan to use the revolving funds in a cyclical manner so that every woman in the group has a machine soon. Babita of Kamakhya group says that it would be considerably helpful if Tripura Sundari Cooperative- set up with help from IlSP- is able to provide them raw material like wool and help them with marketing of their products. It is pertinent to mention here that
11 groups focused on stitching works with a total of 79 members have achieved considerable success selling their products to both Indian and Nepali customers. According to official data, since September 2015 till date, the combined earnings of these 11 groups have reached the amount of Rs 26,74,275.