Jute for Life - 11 Feb 2019

Redefining the art of Earning Bread
Anjali Singh, since her childhood, had an intolerance to poverty and underprivileged society around her. She believed in Chinese proverb “Don’t give the Bread but Give the art of earning Bread”.
After her MBA and 10 years of Private Job, Anjali formed the “Jute Artisans Guild Association” in 2009 which was an organization that manufactures jute diversified products. She decided to extend the coverage to more skilled rural women artisans in her venture, in order to provide them economic sustainability through Skill up gradation. The individual entrepreneurs were facing a lot of problems in selling their products due to lack of awareness but Anjali’s aim to provide the livelihood to these women helped them to employ her marketing skills and thereafter the organization made liaison with a number of private and government organizations in order to popularize their products in the competitive market.
Another main problem was to convince the family members of the artisans, as being a male-dominated society it was difficult for rural women to come out of their families and work. Some cases were really very serious and in order to show these women the outer world to work, Anjali had to really put in extra effort to get them to work. Initially, she started the manufacturing activities in a room at her home with just 2 women artisans and now there are over 200+, who are working in the project. After joining FLO, Anjali got a different platform for her product. It was an entirely new experience wherein she met and interacted with FLO members entrepreneurs of different sectors, learned, explored new avenues to launch her ideas in a supportive and nurturing environment. FLO opened new avenues for Anjali to showcase/promote her product to the new clientele.
Various opportunities were given to set up stalls at FLO events to showcase and also sell the products. Order frequency increased, as Anjali’s product was seen as a substitute for polythene/ plastic by almost all Flo members for their industry or corporate use. Anjali was encouraged to conduct “Jute Bag Making” Training workshops to spread the art of earning bread. Ten such pieces of training were organized under FLO flagship.
Anjali’s Organization and FLO jointly tied up with AWWA, Lucknow and started Jute training program under the We Skill Initiative for War widows and their daughters. Because of FLO, she got a lot of coverage in print and electronic media. Anjali is working in mission mode creating employment to these rural underprivileged women who face a lot of troubles in their family life, assisting them to lead a respectable life with economic assurance. These women artisans have become self-dependent, strong and confident. They could easily meet the basic necessities of life, give their children a better education and save for future needs.
Recently Anjali has been allotted Jute Raw Material Bank of Northern India, by GOI to promote and sell Jute at mill gate price. In the near future, Anjali is planning to provide more and more coverage to rural/ urban unprivileged women by giving them the lead with her full competency and enthusiasm.