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A part of India’s unorganised sector, the cottage industry often tends to exploit its workers who anyway earn a paltry sum. The beedi industry is one such agro based industry, in which nearly 90 percent of the workforce are women from rural areas, who barely earn enough to keep it together.
The residents of Domakonda village in Telangana’s Kamareddy district earned their livelihood primarily from the exploitive beedi industry, until one man decided to come in and help.
Hyderabad-based D Bala Prasad, who managed to free himself from this vicious circle, is helping his village folk access alternative and better sources of income, as per a report by ‘The Better India’.
A techie by profession, Prasad founded ‘Live In For Everyone’ (LIFE), a non-profit, that has played a key role in organising various skill-based programmes in Domakonda.
The women are most vulnerable to diseases like cancer, as they are exposed to dangerous levels of carcinogens present in tobacco, which can enter their bloodstream through their skin or can be inhaled as dust.
This was one of the main reasons that pushed Prasad to help the villagers break away from this hazardous profession.
“For young girls who did not complete their academics, we got in touch with Apollo Hospitals who were ready to provide skill-based training. Close to 15 women have found jobs as lab technicians in nearby cities where the pay is almost triple the meagre amount that they were given for making beedis,” Prasad told The Better India.
In order to reach out to middle-aged women in Domakonda, Prasad got in touch with local NGO ‘Nirmaan’, which decided to pursue local enterprises.
Prasad’s own organisation has managed to approach local government hospitals, which are now buying products made by the women of Domakonda, thus, helping them eke out a living.
LIFE is also playing a key role in improving the lives of the farmers in that region by initiating ‘natural farming’. Diversifying into other areas, LIFE also has a stake in the education sector, and offers scholarships to meritorious schoolchildren. To that extent, Prasad has been supporting four government schools in the region.
(With inputs from The Better India)
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