Tatsat Chronicle Magazine

SIDBI Setting Up 300 Swavalamban Silai Schools In Villages To Promote Women Entrepreneurship

August 17, 2022
Swavalamban Silai Schools

The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), in association with Usha International Limited (UIL), fifth phase of setting up of 300 Swavalamban Silai Schools across 10 districts of 6 States / Union Territory viz. Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Goa, Puducherry, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. The goal of the initiative is to empower women and develop them as home-based entrepreneurs by promoting entrepreneurial culture.

The program was launched virtually from Pondicherry by Mr. Sivasubramanian Ramann, CMD, SIDBI. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ramann, said: “As we celebrate 76th year of independence with the theme of ‘Udyam Se Aazadi” by promoting women entrepreneurship, artisans and large-scale livelihood promotion. Till now, 2700 Swavalamban Silai Schools have been set-up covering 2618 villages, 198 blocks, 48 districts across 17 states (viz. UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and North-East (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tripura & Mizoram) of country. It’s a matter of pride that they contributed to the national mission “Har Ghar Tiranga” by making 75000 flags which were distributed among 750 villages.”

SIDBI aims to reach 5,000 such schools across India and guide them to play a bigger role in the garment industry.

Under this program, aspiring female entrepreneurs are versatile in sewing, sewing machine maintenance and repair with life skills and entrepreneurial spirit.

Women who successfully complete the training program receive a sewing machine, training kit, machine manual, design book, certificate and a Swavalamban Silai School signage board. This initiative not only makes them independent and role models for their families, but promotes a culture of entrepreneurship and as a result, they become master trainers and then teach an average of ten other women.

In the first four phases of the initiative, 2700 homepreneurs are functional and have enrolled over 27000+ learners under them leading to the deepening of entrepreneurship. Each homepreneur acts as a trainer for applicants, designs and sells sewn garments, and also provides repair services. Out Of these 2,700 households, around 40% of women belong to the OBC category, while around 39% belong to the SC/ST category.

In general, 60% of these women who have set up Silai Schools schools are below the poverty line. The cumulative income of these 2,700 women is Rs 12.47 million from tailoring work, apprenticeship fees and sewing machine repair for 3 years. Around 40-45% of these homepreneurs are earning around Rs. 3000-3500/month on average.