Tribal girls gaining self-reliance in Jharkhand district

Gumla (Jharkhand), April 2 : A Central Government supported project in Jharkhand state is making a difference in several tribal girls’ lives by giving them vocational training and helping them gain self-reliance in life.

The district administration of Gumla here has set up a Kasturba Gandhi School, which today trains about 1,468 girl students for various vocational pursuits.

Students here are trained in basic skills to enable them become artisans and produce varieties of utility items.

Recently, various colourful items made by these girls were put on display during a cultural-cum-sports event, which was hosted as part of the Jharkhand Education Project at the Albert Ekka grounds here.

“This step has been taken to encourage girl students who are studying and those who, due to economic and social reasons, are not able to attend school. This is also to help those who stay at home and take care of their siblings and others who migrate to far off places. This effort was made with the help of Government (central govt.),” said Jayant Mishra, District Education Superintendent, Gumla, Jharkhand.

The initiative has ushered a progressive change in the lives of many young girls in Gumla district. Besides, attending schools they are also training themselves in vocational skills.

“Girls, who had left the school before, and those, who were not able to study because of certain reasons are now part of the mainstream at this school. Alongside studies, they are also provided with professional (vocational) training so that they can become self-reliant and can earn regular income from the arts and crafts learnt here,” said Sunita Lakra, a teacher at the Kasturba Gandhi School.

Girls are taught different vocations like tailoring, stitching and allied skills. These young girls have been trained to produce variety of daily utility items and other novelties.

On the anvil is an outlet to market the products made by these artisan girls.

At the recent cultural-cum-sports event, the colourful items made by these buddying artisans were put on display. Visitors were appreciative of students efforts.

“I am getting vocational training here. All that we make is displayed here. We have got these things from our school. We want to do better than this in future,” recalled Anita Kumari, a student Kasturba Gandhi School, Gumla.

Today, these young tribal girls of Gumla region are beaming a smile today since they have been provided with ways and means to improve their quality of life and the overall standard of living in their society.

By Girija Shankar Ojha