Business News This Week
Nagda: Guddi Bai, an underprivileged woman from Palki village near Nagda in Ujjain district of Madhya Pradesh, earns Rs 500 per month stitching clothes during her free time. Like her, over 200 other women have been trained in tailoring at the Mahila Stitching Centre, at Nagda in Madhya Pradesh as part of the CSR initiatives of Grasim Industries Limited, a flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group.
The Mahila Stitching Centre is working towards women empowerment in and around Nagda where Grasim’s VSF plant is located. By imparting training in essential earning skills, the organization is helping these women evolve into self-assured, economically independent individuals. Consequently, it is bringing forth a transformation in the socio-economic landscape of the region.
“I feel confident as my income has helped improve the lives of my family members, especially my children. Earlier, I had nothing to do except household chores once my husband left for work and children went to school. The stitching training has made me self-sufficient and confident,” says Guddi Bai.
Commenting on the success of the program, Mr. Siddhartha Banerji, President, Grasim Industries, Nagda plant (MP) said, “We are involved in creating opportunities for women living in the villages around our factory at Birlagram near Nagda.
We had been exploring various income generation activities, especially for low income families, and after an in-depth discussion, tailoring was chosen as a good livelihood support activity. The idea was that the women from the remote villages learn to stitch clothes required for their families and neighbours. The Mahila Stitching Centre collaborates with USHA International which administers the exams and awards certificates to successful candidates.” Grasim also provides them with sewing machines on part contribution paid by the stitching enthusiasts. “This help them in two ways – one, they sharpen their skills by practicing more, learn new dress design and secondly they can quickly eke out a livelihood by stitching clothes for the villagers”, adds Mr. Banerji.
Twenty-year-old Sona, who also hails from Palki, is self-employed and earns Rs 1000 per month stitching clothes at home. She learned her skill attending the training programme organized by Grasim. “I thank Grasim for providing me the opportunity to learn sewing and tailoring training over three months. Such initiatives help women like me to become self-employed,” she said.
Since its opening, the Mahila Stitching Centre has trained over 200 women in the basic skill of stitching. The three-month training programme imparts a simple skill to 15-20 women that redefines their social standing, giving them economic freedom and self-confidence.
About Grasim Industries, Birlagram (Nagda)
Grasim Industries, a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Group, is India's pioneer in Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF), a man-made, biodegradable fibre with characteristics akin to cotton. As an extremely versatile and easily blendable fibre, VSF is widely used in apparels, home textiles, dress material, knitted wear and non-woven applications. Grasim's VSF plants are located at Nagda in Madhya Pradesh, Kharach in Gujarat and Harihar in Karnataka, with an aggregate capacity of 352,225 tpa.
Grasim’s Nagda factory is the company’s largest unit producing a wide range of VSF to suit customer requirements in terms of length, denier and colour and also second and third generation fibres like Modal, Excel and Solvent Spun fibres, respectively. Grasim is also the largest producer of spun-dyed specialty fibre in the world.
The Mahila Stitching Centre is working towards women empowerment in and around Nagda where Grasim’s VSF plant is located. By imparting training in essential earning skills, the organization is helping these women evolve into self-assured, economically independent individuals. Consequently, it is bringing forth a transformation in the socio-economic landscape of the region.
“I feel confident as my income has helped improve the lives of my family members, especially my children. Earlier, I had nothing to do except household chores once my husband left for work and children went to school. The stitching training has made me self-sufficient and confident,” says Guddi Bai.
Commenting on the success of the program, Mr. Siddhartha Banerji, President, Grasim Industries, Nagda plant (MP) said, “We are involved in creating opportunities for women living in the villages around our factory at Birlagram near Nagda.We had been exploring various income generation activities, especially for low income families, and after an in-depth discussion, tailoring was chosen as a good livelihood support activity. The idea was that the women from the remote villages learn to stitch clothes required for their families and neighbours. The Mahila Stitching Centre collaborates with USHA International which administers the exams and awards certificates to successful candidates.” Grasim also provides them with sewing machines on part contribution paid by the stitching enthusiasts. “This help them in two ways – one, they sharpen their skills by practicing more, learn new dress design and secondly they can quickly eke out a livelihood by stitching clothes for the villagers”, adds Mr. Banerji.
Twenty-year-old Sona, who also hails from Palki, is self-employed and earns Rs 1000 per month stitching clothes at home. She learned her skill attending the training programme organized by Grasim. “I thank Grasim for providing me the opportunity to learn sewing and tailoring training over three months. Such initiatives help women like me to become self-employed,” she said.
Since its opening, the Mahila Stitching Centre has trained over 200 women in the basic skill of stitching. The three-month training programme imparts a simple skill to 15-20 women that redefines their social standing, giving them economic freedom and self-confidence.
About Grasim Industries, Birlagram (Nagda)
Grasim Industries, a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Group, is India's pioneer in Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF), a man-made, biodegradable fibre with characteristics akin to cotton. As an extremely versatile and easily blendable fibre, VSF is widely used in apparels, home textiles, dress material, knitted wear and non-woven applications. Grasim's VSF plants are located at Nagda in Madhya Pradesh, Kharach in Gujarat and Harihar in Karnataka, with an aggregate capacity of 352,225 tpa.
Grasim’s Nagda factory is the company’s largest unit producing a wide range of VSF to suit customer requirements in terms of length, denier and colour and also second and third generation fibres like Modal, Excel and Solvent Spun fibres, respectively. Grasim is also the largest producer of spun-dyed specialty fibre in the world.
