Empowering women through skills

If you were to visit the interiors of Osman Gunj in Hyderabad during daytime and find your way to a calendar-shop premises, you will see young women busy learning the ropes of tailoring and fashion design. They are all earnest about their involvement and working hard because they know they are receiving quality training which is also comprehensive. The best part is that this entire training is given free of cost.

This training without taking any fees is conducted by the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations, Koti Samithi, Hyderabad. This programme is titled Sri Sathya Sai Skill Development Programme for Mahilas.

This programme focuses on social upliftment since the founder of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, spiritual guru and philanthropist Sri Sathya Sai Baba used to reiterate that social service is the best way to worship God. Educating and empowering underprivileged women, contributes to the well-being of their respective families as well as that of the nation. Free top-quality medical care and medicines, drinking-water projects and highly subsidised educational institutions are other activities of the organisation. This "Tailoring and Fashion-Design' course is of three-hour duration everyday and lasts for three months or 100 days. The participants are taught to stitch 25 different kinds of items (both daily wear and for special occasions). The qualifications for this course: the applicant should be literate, and be above 18 years. Also, the course is open only for women and from economically backward sections of society. Finally, locals or Hyderabad residents are given preference as it is easy for them to attend daily classes without fail. Anyone who fulfills these requirements is welcome, irrespective of caste or creed. In fact, a perusal of the lists of past participants will show how women from many communities have trained here.

This programme which was inaugurated on December 5, 2015; has so far trained around 520 women in tailoring and fashion design in 19 successive batches. The 19th batch had a large number of around 50 girl trainees (all from Nampally Junior College).

Now, the 20th batch's training is going to commence from January 16, 2024 and last till April 24, 2024. Interested persons may register their names by contacting the Samiti representative at Tel: 88865 09410, or email: ponugupati123@gmail.com

After the training, the participants receive a certificate in a special function. In the past, the certificates have been given out by well-known persons like politician and Haryana governor Bandaru Dattatreya; noted singer Dr Shobha Raju; and members of the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations like its All India President Nimesh Pandya, Telangana State President P. Venkat Rao, Hyderabad District President A. Malleshwara Rao; academician Professor Anilkumar Kamaraju; etc. Some of the participants, who are most underprivileged, have also been given sewing-machines free of cost along with the certificate.

Some of the trained women have reported that they are earning around Rs 10,000 per month. Other women who are not tailoring for others, say they are still earning money in one sense, since they are doing tailoring work for their families and hence cutting down on family expenditure. Interestingly, at the beginning of every training-programme, all the students of the batch are made to stitch baby-kits made up of ‘bonthalu' or warm blankets, baby-caps, etc., reveals PVSastry of the Koti Samithi. "These are donated to the pregnant women awaiting delivery at Government Maternity Hospital, Sultan Bazaar, Hyderabad (after taking the Hospital Superintendent's permission). We also offer each of the recipients an apple as a token of affection for mother and baby," he adds.

The sewing machines are housed permanently at the premises of the Osman Gunj training centre. So, whenever the machines are idle at any given time, the past trainees are free to come here and use the machines for their tailoring work. A programme for women in training in jute-bag stitching is also on the cards. All the volunteers who make this programme possible including state-activity-in charge Madhavi Latha and T. Srikala humbly submit that they are happy to contribute their bit to the betterment of society.