Sangeeta Mishra of Jigina Bhiyanv village of the Bansgaon area of Gorakhpur district is an example. In the Corona era, when the job-trade of the people was a livelihood crisis due to the collapse, Sangeeta, who runs the Shiv Shakti self-help group, not only handled herself but also provided employment opportunities to others.
A simple-looking woman Sangeeta becomes serious when she looks into her life five years ago. Every moment of life had become difficult in Muflissi. The husband used to sew bags, but the income from it was making it difficult to run the family's expenses. Then Sangeeta also decided to take time out of the four-pot of the house and share her husband's hand. If there were four hands, the income also increased.
Together, they also opened a small shop in Kuchata Bazar. Gradually when the demand for bags increased, Sangeeta formed the Shiv Shakti Self Help Group under the National Livelihood Mission in 2015. 15 women joined the group. The then village development officer Shakeel Ahmed helped in the formation of the group.
When demand increases, supply also increases according to demand. Every woman member started earning 300 to eight hundred rupees per day. In 2017, when the group got a chance to set up a stall at the Gorakhpur festival, it earned over 30 thousand rupees in a week. Not only did this encourage the members, but the importance of the big plank was also understood.
Group masks and PPE kits from offices to markets
In the Corona transition period, when employees of big companies were returning home from work, the women of the Shiv Shakti self-help group found employment opportunities.
With the support and encouragement of the commissioners, DMs, CDOs, and NRLM officers, the women also produced 25,000 masks and seven thousand PPE kits. It generated an income of about five lakh rupees. The masks and PPE kits made by the group were supplied from government offices, hospitals to markets.
Order to get 14 thousand school dress stitched
Under the ambitious scheme of the Chief Minister, the group is making school dress for the children of council schools. The order to sew 14 thousand school dress has been received. The fabric has been provided by the department. 110 rupees are being received for stitching a dress. The group has stitched four thousand dresses so far.
In the 15 days of dress stitching, the group's Sangeeta Mishra, Sasikala, and Indravati got ten-ten thousand rupees, Sadhana eight thousand rupees, Snehlata five thousand, Khushboo six thousand, Meera and Kiran 3500, Sunita eight thousand, Aarti has earned four thousand rupees and Sita has earned three thousand rupees.
In this way, the president of the group, Sangeeta, along with her family, is also making her significant contribution to financially strengthening the other women of the group.
Sangeeta Mishra, the chairperson of Shiv Shakti Self-Help Group, who hails from Jigina Bianv village in the Bansgaon area, said that women have become self-sufficient after the formation of the self-help group. The members of the group are also helping in the earning of the family by handing over their husband, father, and brother. NRLM's DC Awadhesh, DMM Sachin, and Purvanchal Gramin Bank have had special support in moving the group forward. The campaign to empower women will continue unabated.