School of Hope principal Shyamala Raju (in green) on Wednesday looks at printing blocks to be used in the production unit. Picture by Bhola Prasad

They may be different, but they are more able than most when it comes to creativity.

With little help from Jharcraft, some 35 students of School of Hope — a cradle for the mentally challenged — will knit for themselves a future with sustainable income.

The school, managed by Jamshedpur Society for the Welfare of Mentally Challenged Children, had recently proposed a Jharcraft production unit on its campus. Acting on the offer, a representative for the state’s money-spinning handicraft and handloom corporation visited the campus on Tuesday to gauge feasibility of the project and check availability of manpower.

Now, the proposal to set up a handloom, printing and stitching unit of Jharcraft on the campus and engaging adult students to run it has been sent for the state industries department formal approval.

“I inspected the campus. The school already has some basic infrastructure. With the available resources, we thought a handloom, printing and stitching unit will be best suited for students who are also partly trained,” Biswanath Paswan, the project officer of the department in East Singhbhum, said. He added that the initiative was to link the differently abled children to a sustainable livelihood.

All the 35 students, who will be part of the Jharcraft production wing, are above 18 years of age. Fifteen will be engaged in the handloom section, while 10 each in stitching and printing.

Jharcraft will provide the raw materials and specialised training. The idea is to form a group like SHGs where Hope students will have a guide to supervise them.

For starters, Paswan said, students won’t manufacture silk products, which require very specialised training.

“They will make cotton items like towels and dress materials. The school will be free to market the products individually. They can either sell it back to Jharcraft or contact local shops,” he said.

Rajnish Kumar, a member of the Jamshedpur society for mentally challenged, said this was one viable way of increasing employability and making special students a part of the mainstream society. The industries department is co-operating with us,” he added.

The students of School of Hope already manufacture dusters for corporate houses and for the open market. The are also making designer diyas for Diwali. About 45 special students create 15,000 diyas every year, besides designer candles.