NAMSAI, 11 Apr: In a collective effort to enhance rural livelihoods and equip women with sustainable income-generating skills, the Bethel Life Care Charitable Trust, in collaboration with the Arunachal State Rural Livelihoods Mission and the CMS Foundation, launched skill training and kit distribution programmes at Jona-I village in Namsai block and Alubari village in Chongkham block, both in Namsai district, on Thursday.
These initiatives focused on two trades – candle making and sewing machine operation – each engaging 50 rural participants. The candle-making training in Jona-I is scheduled for 15 days, while the sewing machine operator training in Alubari spans 30 days. Both programmes aim to empower local women, particularly from self-help groups, by promoting self-employment and entrepreneurship.
In both locations, each participant was provided with a customised starter kit to support their hands-on learning during the training period, and to facilitate post-training production and livelihood generation.
Addressing the participants, NABARD DDM Kamal Roy emphasised the importance of post-training support, proposing the need for entrepreneurship planning, including the development of off-farm producer organizations and local marketing structures like rural haats. He also encouraged the convergence of available government schemes such as MUDRA loans and PM Vishwakarma Yojana, urging the participants to pursue livelihood opportunities that respond to local demands.
Rushin Ramanbhai Patel, representing the CMS Foundation, inspired participants with his ideas on design innovation in candle making and stressed the importance of market studies and quality control. He guided the participants on branding strategies and packaging differentiation for local and external markets, and urged the tailoring trainees to enhance their products with value additions and technical finesse to become multi-skilled artisans.
