Indian Forest Service officer Anupam Sharma had started a toy initiative to empower tribal women while he was posted as SDO in Maihar, Madhya Pradesh, which is proving to be very beneficial for them. Under this initiative, wildlife theme-based soft toys are made by the women and these are then sold in the market from Rs. 100 upwards. The objective of the initiative was to provide employment to the womenfolk which will lead to the development of the tribes, and it seems to be achieving its goal.
Indian Masterminds got in touch with Mr. Anupam Sharma, who has since left Maihar and is currently posted as DFO in Sendhwa, to know more about this initiative.
SOFT TOY INITIATIVE
The toy initiative was started with the aim to cover three broad objectives. The first objective was economic empowerment of local tribal women, second, to make people aware of wildlife sensitivity by selling wildlife-based soft toys, and last, to replace Chinese toys even to a minimum extent, as 80% of the toys in India are Chinese made and, hence, it is a far cry to meet the expectations and replace these toys with Indian ones.
STARTED IN GODIN VILLAGE
The soft toy initiative started in the Godin village of Maihar, and was organized by Satna Forest Department under GIM livelihood. “The villagers participated in good numbers enthusiastically. The women realised that they are capable of doing much more than the normal household chores,” Mr. Anupam Sharma said.
The initiative is supported by Green India Mission (GIM). It is a scheme that gives a specific percentage of project costs that is annually designated for the improvement of the livelihood of nearby villages. The GIM livelihood fund made it feasible to provide training to the women for making soft toys.
TOYS WERE SOLD IN THREE OUTLETS
Mr. Sharma requested assistance from the CED MAP (Center for Entrepreneurship Development Madhya Pradesh) institution for the training purpose. CED MAP is a government institution that provides training for various skills and activities.
CED MAP deputed a trainee to train the local women in making soft toys. These toys are then sent by the administration to the three outlets for sale. Mahiar Mata temple area, Mukundpur zoo, and the souvenir shop in Bhandhavgad Tiger Reserve.
WOMEN AND TRIBAL EMPOWERMENT
The initiative gave the local women an opportunity to work which improved their economic position. It also instilled a sense of confidence in them as they started earning.
To encourage the women involved in soft toy making, Patrika News Network felicitated them on International Women’s Day, for the best initiative for women empowerment. These particular village folks are not entrepreneurial by nature. Hence, it was quite challenging for them as well as for the administration. “However, the people were overall very cooperative and never missed the training sessions. Also, the feedback was very good regarding the whole training period”, Mr. Sharma said, adding that the scope of the initiative is hard to explain in merely quantitative terms but it has been successful in touching economic aspects, financial aspects, and local empowerment. “It does not just concentrates on women empowerment, it also highlights tribal empowerment as well,” he said in conclusion.
