Bhagalpur, June 13: Sabiya Khatun, Bibi Chameli and Wahida Khatun had never dreamt of going out of their homes to pursue a livelihood. Thanks to a joint venture of the state and the central governments, they have.

Under a joint venture, the Union ministry of rural development, the state government and the local UCO Bank set up a rural self-employment training institute (RSETI) in the district. The programme aims to eradicate poverty in rural areas, for which the state government has to provide land and the central government fund it with up to Rs 1 crore.

UCO-RSETI, Bhagalpur, organised a training programme for the below poverty line women of Jagdishpur and Nathnagar. Thirty-eight women were selected from a list of more than 75 applicants. They were imparted training in making soft toys.

Fateh Help Society, a voluntary organisation that has been working for the rights of bidi rollers, was drafted as the resource agency for the training programme.

Aarti Singh, the zonal manager of UCO Bank, Bhagalpur, formally inaugurated the training programme on June 3 at Fateh Help Society’s training centre in Pankahtoli.

Fateh Help Society secretary Shabana Daaud and UCO-RSETI, Bhagalpur, director P.K. Chanda were also present at the programme.

In the course of the training programme, the trainees were exposed to the markets at Bhagalpur. They learnt about how to procure raw materials and access potential markets. The trainees were taught to make teddy bears, rabbits, parrots, dolls and giraffes in the course of the programme.

Umesh Prasad Singh, the general manager of the district industries centre, who visited the training centre, said the products have great market value and could be marketed easily.

On May 29, Shahid Ali Khan, the state minister for minority development, visited the training centre and appreciated the soft toys made by the trainees.

Khan said he would inform the chief minister about the good work being done at Bhagalpur and took some of the soft toys made by the trainees.

Nabin Roy, the district development manager of Nabard, Bhagalpur, said: “RSETI has already taken initiatives to introduce several income-generating opportunities in the rural areas.”

The programme concluded on June 7. Earlier, UCO Bank launched the UCO RSETI-Bhagalpur on March 14 with the aim of providing training to below poverty line rural youths.

Seventeen farmers from Jagdishpur and Goradih were imparted a 10-day-long training in mushroom cultivation and vermi compost production.

Later, in May, 30 farmers were trained in dairy farming.

Chandra said certificates were awarded to 85 rural youths, including the 47 farmers.

He added that RSETI had planned to conduct more than 35 programmes during the 2011-12 fiscal.