Skill Development & Livelihood Generation

Project Period: 1st May 2017 to 30th April 2018

Barabanki district in Uttar Pradesh state has a thriving craft of hand woven fabrics. However, with increasing mechanization of production, power looms, dominance of middle men and other such factors, many weavers are forced to leave their traditional profession and migrate to towns and cities in search of alternate employment. A few families continue to weave and bear the responsibility of preserving the age-old practice. Interestingly, most of the weaving units are led by women weavers in these households.

With a view to support and ensure the wellbeing of the women weavers, AMAN Trust in collaboration with Baragaon Weaves LLP, a handloom weavers enterprise, and with support from American Jewish World Service (AJWS), began this initiative with weaver families in Baragaon village of Barabanki district. The project aims at building the capacities of the women weavers — promoting fair wages, creating a sustainable livelihood, skill up-gradation, and sensitising them on basic health, hygiene and social issues.

The project intervention encouraged many young women weavers to take charge of their weaving units while engaging in regular production of good quality hand woven cotton products. Some women are also assisting their male counterparts in various forms of embroidery craft work like zardozi and chikankari. Leading online stores like Jaypore, iTokri and Amazon.in are promoting sale of their hand woven produce, along with brand studios like EitherOr, JiCuration and Anoothi.

Project Period: 1st December 2015 to 31st May 2017

The J&K MAST project, a joint initiative of AMAN Public Charitable Trust, New Delhi, The American India Foundation Trust, India and American India Foundation, United States, aimed to explore livelihood possibilities for school dropout youths in the region. The project targeted providing suitable industrial training to interested youths who could eventually gain employment in local industries, while also providing counselling and soft skills training to youths brought up in a hostile environment arising out of conflict situations.

The MAST centre at ITI Pattan, with support from the technical education board and other state administrative bodies, identified potential youths for skill-based training with a target to groom them and enhance their professional and personal skills, creating socially responsible youths. The project plan focused on creating sustainable livelihood opportunities for around 180-200 youths through skill-based training (mechanics, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, cutting and tailoring, etc.), ensuring dignified lives, improved confidence and raised self-esteem through ethical placement with suitable employers. Youths enrolled at the MAST Centre were between 16 and 30 years of age.

The project was successful in motivating several school dropout youths to take up skill training courses. Some graduated youths are now working part-time as plumbers and electricians. The government's ITI centre at Pattan block, district Baramulla, in collaboration with the Rashtriya Rifles and AMAN Trust, New Delhi, decided to continue offering short-term training courses for interested youth.

AMAN Trust runs a livelihood generation programme in Jehanabad, Bihar, supporting economic self-sufficiency among marginalised households in the district. Full field documentation for this initiative has not yet been published — contact AMAN Trust for the latest programme details.