A helping hand

The Self Help Groups Project has given a new lease of life to the mine widows of Balesar.

Rajo Ratanram hated the mines. She was also a widow with two children. So she had no option but to work there even though she put in long hours, earned meagre wages and believed the sandstone mines were the reason her husband died of tuberculosis 14 years ago. Then one day a year ago, a miracle changed her life. It was called the Self Help Group. Ratanram learnt to sew, quit the mines and is happy earning a living by stitching clothes.

Ratanram isn8217;t alone. Every other house in Balesar, a mining town 70 km from Jodhpur, has a widow, most having lost their husbands to TB. For years, these women were forced to work in mines. Respite came in the form of the Self Help Groups Project started by Radhadevi Sharma, who runs an NGO called Aprajita. A widow, Sharma has been working with the widows for over six years, but it was only two years ago that she started the SHGs for the widows. Today, 200 women between 25 and 55 years, are members, with at least 100 more eager to join in.

8220;It was during a discussion with the mine widows that we discovered the problems they were facing. They even suffered physical harassment by mine supervisers,8221; says Sharma. So she, along with volunteers from the Mine Labourers Protection Council MLPC, conducted a survey on the conditions of mine widows, and launched the SHGs. A novel initiative in the country, the SHGs trained the women to sew, will soon teach them embroidery and patchwork, and are also planning to set up small-scale industries. Several others have started producing designer tiles out of waste from the mines, which are popular in cities.

8220;Things have changed drastically for us. Being illiterate and unskilled, we had no choice but to work in these death traps. And after a day8217;s work we didn8217;t earn enough to have a full meal,8221; says Khamma Devi, a widow with five children.

Most women have now repaid the loans they took after their husbands8217; deaths. They have also stopped sending their children to the mines to work and have admitted them to schools. They are also taking loans from Aprajita8217;s cooperative society to buy a plot or construct a one-room house.

Take Ramadevi. Widowed at 19 with two children, she was thrown out of the house by her in-laws after she refused to hand over a plot to them. 8220;I then joined the SHG and took a loan of Rs 20,000 to construct a one-room house. Life has never been better.8221;

8220;The response has been overwhelming, but first we want to teach the existing members to impart training to others. Then we8217;ll set up a handicrafts and tiles industry, which will increase employment,8221; she adds. The widows of Balesar are looking forward to it.