The Dayanand Shilpa Vidalaya at Bhimpura and Kundroth, in Rajasthan.

Girls Skills Centre

Bhimpura and Kundroth are both in the Alwar District, Rajasthan where the major employers are the stone quarry contractors who notoriously break labour laws and frequently employ both bonded labour and child labour in the stone mines. The majority of people employed are from the scheduled castes of the population. The average wage for a worker in the stone quarries is approximately Rs.25. To assess the viability of continuing to run the skills centres for girls which had already been established by BMM, an assessment was made by BMM workers who went out and interviewed young women who had completed an earlier course. Listed below are three case studies from that survey.

Manju (19 years) was previously employed in the stone quarries. After receiving training in embroidery and tailoring she has been self-employed and is earning between Rs.130 - 150 per day.

Meenu (18 years) previously worked in stone quarries in the stone-breaking area. Now doing tailoring work from home and is earning an average of Rs.100 - Rs.125 per day.

Parveen (19 years) also earlier engaged in stone breaking. Now married Parveen works on stitching from home and earns between Rs100 - 130 per day.

A second course was therefore justified and initiated. Numbers of trainees enrolled at both centres is 60.