Jamna Khatik is a resident of village Putholi, Chittorgarh. She started working at the textile centre 2 years ago, when it was in its infancy. Prior to entering the centre, she was a homemaker and was spending her leisure time doing simple needlework (salwar & blouse). She is a SHG member and one fine day she heard that Manjari Foundation is going to start textile unit, at that time she decided to join it. She further added that her family has always been supportive for her and she also started getting help in household chores since I started working at the textile centre.

When she used to stitch at home before joining the centre, her family members would tell her to stop stitching and complete the household chores. She felt like she didn’t have any place in her family or in society but after joining the textile unit, she felt that her social position in her family and community has improved. She gained the dignity to live with respect after joining the textile unit, and now she believes that she has also improved her financial situation and also assists her husband in household expenses.

Jamna Khatik’s achievements:

She learnt a lot of things, which she never expected to learn but today she is an expert in masks, kurtis, palazzos, tod bags, sling bags, dangri, pillow covers, and card holders. Initially, her speed was too slow and she was only able to produce 50 to 80 masks per day and earning just Rs.4000 – Rs.5000 per month; however, today she is making 350 to 500 masks per day and earning Rs.20,000 to Rs.25,000 per month. Her ability and speed have improved as time has passed.

She further added that how she made made dangri this year, where it was extremely difficult for her to make even a single dangri per day but she never gave up and this attitude helped her to build her positivity and now she can prepare 4-5 dangris per day. She has always dreamt and worked extremely hard to change those dreams into reality. She also made a Fixed Deposit for her children’s education, which would be necessary for their further education.

Mr. Sanjay Sharma, Executive Director of Manjari Foundation, also presented her with the Best Production Person Award.

Way forward:

Her dream is to create her own stitching centre where she could give employment and teach her talents to other women, which would allowed them to enhance their social position in society while also improving their economic status.

About Textile Unit:

One textile centre is located in Bhilwara’s hamlet of Agoocha, and the other is located in Chittorgarh’s village of Putholi. A total of 50 rural SHG women are involved in manufacturing at both locations. Before being transported to the production factory, the rural SHG women received training, where they were get training of mask preparation due to the COVID 1st Phrase.

This was their first-time of making masks, however, these ladies were so passionate that they made large quantities of masks to meet society’s demand. As time passed on, these ladies honed their talents and added a slew of new goods to their manufacturing line i.e. Kurtis, Shirts, Palazzos, Vegetable Bags, Roto covers, Sling Bags, Dangris, Card Holders, and many more goods were featured in the category, which also covered the embroidery area.

Enterprise assists rural SHG women in recognising their dreams:

Many rural women have improved their social and economic position as a result of their involvement in the textile centre. They have now developed the idea that they may now train other rural women for the textile industry. When they were just house makers, they had no dreams, but today most of them have dreams in their eyes and they are all working extremely hard to make them come true in life.

These dreams include things like building their own home, providing better education for their children and being a supporting hand for their husbands (many women have run their families as a substitute as supporting hands when their husbands lost their jobs due to the COVID). Some are saving money for their children’s weddings, while others aspire to buy their own automated sewing machine, where some women have already done it.