A grassroots movement is underway in Punjab! Women from the districts of Bathinda, Kotbhai and Rajpura are honing their skills, reviving traditional handicrafts and becoming breadwinners in their families – all via the Virasat- E-Malwa collective. And one of the driving forces behind it, is Karamjeet Kaur.

Unpaid care and domestic work is highlighted by the United Nations as one of the many hindrances to women’s right and ability to access decent and productive work. Did you know that in India, women spend up to 352 minutes per day on unpaid domestic work – 577% more than men who spend approximately 52 minutes. This means that 3 out of every 4 Indian women are not working outside the home and many have aspirations to do so!

The savvy women of Saraswati Mahila Bachat Gat SHG have found a niche enterprise – producing and sourcing neem oil and Dash Parni – for local cotton farmers looking for natural ways to keep crop pests at bay.

Villagers of Arjuni live nestled on the fringes of the Barnawapara forest and are primarily Adivasi tribals – relying on the gifts of the forest for their livelihoods. Here, the primary source of income is found in weaving traditional bamboo products – baskets, brooms, fans and other household utility and decorative items.

In rural India, where people are dependent on groundwater or weekly municipal water supply, getting fresh water every day is a major household chore, mostly shouldered by women. On an average, it takes about three hours to fetch water to meet the needs of a family of four - a rough estimate for when the water source is within a 2 to 5 km radius.

Shivani Sahu from Khajari village is a hardworking girl who decided to buck the trend and join the male-dominated electrical course. After training, she was placed in Snyder Company, Hyderabad, where her salary was ₹ 11,000. However, due to poor health, she left the job and came back to Chhindwara – securing another job at Wire Harness Company Pithampur where her salary was ₹ 10000.

“In Darlaghat, Himachal Pradesh, livestock are a major source of income for families. A big challenge however, was access to timely, good quality veterinary care.

“When Ambuja Foundation approached me to implement the internet saathi project, I was not very sure. Forget the internet - women, including me, didn’t even own a smartphone!

“A special invitation for 'loans' went out to SHGs from the Women's Federation of Chandrapur in 2015. Usually provided for small businesses, weddings or for buying a house/vehicle, this was the first time loans were being offered for toilets.

‘We are goat people – we’ve always had goats, long as I can remember. My son was volunteering with Ambuja Foundation and learned a lot of new things about the goat business so he could support others in the community. He would come home and tell me all about it, so while I started out with 25 goats, I built up the herd to 50 in just 12months by giving timely vaccination and deworming them.

“I’ve got 2 children and my husband is a private driver, but I always wanted to do something for myself. In 2014 I learned how to knit using a machine, making sweaters and scarfs and the like, I invested in my own digital machine and started taking orders. In a month I now earn 15-20,000 – which helps me to fix my house, pay for treatment of my health issues and support my children’s education.

“My chickens make me so happy! Where once I struggled to make ends meet with my husband’s factory job, today I can earn from home and manage all my household chores and responsibilities also – I’ve no need to go outside to earn! I’ve gone from 15 chicks in 2019 to 135 chickens in just 2 years and earn a whopping Rs. 70,000. Wouldn’t these chickens make you happy too?” - Anjana Gayen, Mohisgot, Sankrail, West Bengal.