Displaced women find new life as weavers

Women displaced by a Heavy Engineering Corporation project here have found a new life as weavers for the Jharkhand Silk Textile and Handicrafts Development Corporation (Jharcraft).
Life for 40-year-old Anjum Nesha changed since she joined a weaving cluster promoted by Jharcraft.
19-year-old Saniya Praveen is happy to be able to supplement the income of her eight-member family earning Rs 3,500 by weaving cotton fabrics.
Nesha and Praveen are among several women in the self-help group (SHG) working in the Nayasarai Weaving Cluster here earning between Rs 4000 and Rs 6000 per month with trainers getting about Rs 10,000 per month, Jharcraft Managing Director, Dhirendra Kumar, said.

"These women are mostly from non-weaving communities with many of them displaced by the HEC project. Many of them are from the BPL category," Kumar said.
The Rs 41.7 lakh project was sanctioned in 2010/11 for a three-year period with the Centre's share being Rs 39.98 lakh and the state's Rs 1.72 lakh, Kumar said.
Beginning with an old work-shed measuring 1000 sq feet, Jharcraft has increased it to seven setting up 60 looms.