Sushila Devi (third from left) displays the bamboo items at Baijla hamlet in Jamui. Picture by Amit Kumar

Economic independence through cottage industry has lent families of Maoists the might to fight Red terror.

Around four years ago, Sushila Devi (51), a mother of three children, went through a difficult time after police launched intensive raids on her residence in search of her husband, Hari Turi, who had earlier left the village to join the Maoists.

Sushila and 25 other households in the village somehow manage to eke a livelihood by making baskets and soop out of bamboo.

“We only had the option to sell our products during festivals like Chhath but the margin of profit was abysmally low,” said Moulal Turi (70), a villager.

“We had to work as agricultural labourers on others’ fields. Out of frustration, some of our youths joined Maoist camps,” said Baldev Turi (75).

However, the residents in this remote village under Baijla panchayat in the Maoist-ravaged Jhajha block (over 55km from the Jamui district headquarters) have started breathing easy again, courtesy the help extended by Nabard, Jamui, through introduction of skill development intervention programme (SDIP).

“We have launched the SDIP in the village and formulated five joint liberty groups (JLG), each comprising five villagers. The villagers are now attending a month-long intensive training to improve their skills,” said Sanjeev Kumar, district development manager, Nabard, Jamui. The ratio of men and women in each JLG is 2:3.

According to the Nabard manager, two master trainers — Daneshwar Mahali and his wife Sarita Devi from Ranchi — have been appointed for the month-long training programme that will to teach the village men and women traditional craft. The training would end in the second week of March.

Elaborating the programme, Daneshwar said earlier, a villager used to earn a profit of Rs 30-40 after investing Rs 100-120 in purchasing a bamboo and other raw material besides putting in hard labour.

“The villagers manufactured limited items which provided them minimum scope to earn money. But after the training, now the villagers are competent to manufacture as many as 22 household decorative items along with daily household items,” he said.

Daneshwar claimed that any individual would now be able to earn a minimum of Rs 1,700 to Rs 2,000 from one bamboo costing between Rs 100 and 120. Earlier, they made a profit of only 20-30 per cent.

Kumar said the Nabard has spent nearly Rs 80,000 on remunerating the two master trainers, purchasing raw material and incurring other expenses for the month-long special training programme. “After completing the training, Nabard has arranged marketing linkage for community members in the village,” Kumar said.

“We are approaching the railways for setting up a rural mart at Jhajha railway station, 21km from the village. The important station on the main section of Eastern Railway would be an ideal place for villagers to market their products,” Kumar added.

B.N. Poddar, the manager of Borwa branch of Bihar Kshetriya Gramin Bank, has also assured the JLB groups to provide loans for buying raw material.