First Vanamitra employment centre opened at Chakkittapara

Kozikode: Minister for Labour and Excise T.P. Ramakrishnan opened the first Vanamitra Employment Centre at Chakkittapara here on Wednesday. The Centre, set up by a group of tribal women from four hamlets in Chakkittapara grama panchayat, is the result of Vanamitra, a pilot project of the Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation (KSWDC) for the comprehensive development of tribal women.

Launched in 2017, Vanamitra project covers four tribal hamlets in the panchayat and encompasses skill development, health and education of women and girl students in the hamlets through various programmes.

After an initial survey, the project began with a training in bamboo basket making for 30 tribal women. “Basket making is their traditional craft, but not many in the new generation are trained in it,” said Bindu V.C, Managing Director of KSWDC.

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Tailoring training for 28 women was the second programme undertaken under Vanamitra. Initial training was given by the Kerala Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (KIED) under the State government. Selected 18 women were then provided advanced tailoring training at Apparel Training and Design Centre (ATDC) under the Ministry of Textiles. Further, four of them were given supervisory training, including marketing strategies and centre management.

The trained women were then registered as a Self-Help Group under the Chakkittapara CDS of Kudumbashree Mission before the centre was set up. At present, the group has been given the order for 800 sets of uniform for 200 students residing in various tribal hostels in the State.

In the second phase of the project, KSWDC plans to train the women in several other traditional handicrafts and find a market for them through the Tourism Department. There are also plans to market pickles and honey under the Vanamitra brand in future, Ms. Bindu said.

KSWDC Chairperson K.S. Saleekha presided over the event.