The rescued girls being trained at Anubhab. A Telegraph picture

Siliguri, Feb. 10: For the first time in north Bengal, the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (Nabard) has launched a skill development programme exclusively for women in Jalpaiguri who were rescued from the clutches of traffickers in different parts of the country.

The course, which started on January 30 at Anubhab, a home for destitute women in Jalpaiguri town, is being conducted by an NGO from West Midnapore — Compeering Society for Social Work & Research Network — in association with the district administration.

“Our attempt was to help the women, who were ensnared by the traffickers and later rescued, learn tailoring and garment designing,” M. Jha, the Jalpaiguri development manager of Nabard, said. “The rescued women can now earn money through self-employment. Once they completed the training, they can even work from home.”

The NGO members and district authorities collected the names of the rescued women from the police and conducted a need-based assessment survey on each of them, said Gautam Roy, the secretary of the NGO.

He said 20 women had been chosen from 50 names that had cropped up. The training had started from January 30.

In the course of the survey, the NGO members and officials were shocked to find that the rescued women were still vulnerable to flesh trade and the problems they faced were many.

“When we went to a girl’s house in a tea estate to inform her that she had been selected for the training programme, she told us that she would be going to Hyderabad and even a ticket for the journey was booked. It was a daunting task for us to impress her on the need to join the course,” a government official said.

“There were two girls who were trafficked from Karala Valley Tea Estate close to Jalpaiguri town and later rescued. But when they returned home, the families were not willing to accept them. They are now undergoing the training,” he said.

Of the 20 girls selected for the first batch, 10-12 are from tea gardens, including closed ones like Ramjhora.

Jha said a permanent trainer and two garment designers were appointed to teach the girls. “It is a two-month residential course where they will be imparted training on fabric designing, embroidery works and ‘zari’ stitch. They will also be given an idea of how to collect works, and merchandise the products,” he said.

Girls like Atfa Begum, Sunita Gossain, Rama Sharma and Munni Naik (all names changed) are busy learning tailoring and designing in a desperate attempt to improve their living conditions. “The touts, who took us from homes promising lucrative jobs, had either sold us to brothels or forced us to work as maids,” they said.

“After being rescued, many of us had to face problems as we could no longer pay money to our families,” one girl said.

The officials, who monitor the programme, said if the programme could be continued, it would help prevent rescued women from being trafficked again.

Manoj Kumar Roy, the district probation officer of Jalpaiguri who is associated with the execution of the project, said the government has not finalised any financial help for the training programme.”

Officials said the government was thinking of distributing sewing machines and other accessories to the girls.

With the road to a dignified life now open, the girls hope that there will not be a re-run of past where they were subjected to exploitation and humiliation.