Krishnagar, Nov. 30: A retired police constable in Nadia has been teaching village women how to make handicrafts so that they can augment their family income.

Lalmohan Guria, a resident of Bhandarkhola village in Krishnagar, has trained around 100 women belonging to the below-poverty-line category since February this year. The women are wives of cycle-van operators, marginal farmers and drivers.

Every day from morning to evening, Guria visits villages in the area to organise free sessions on how to make home decor and other items such as models of Lalan Fakir, lamp shades, flower vases, trays, tooth brush holders, decorative containers, fruit boxes, spice containers, jewellery boxes, pen stands and flower pot holders.

A devotee of folk singer Lalan Fakir, Guria said: "I learnt from Lalan's songs that man is the ultimate God. So, by helping the poor, I feel I am praying before God."

The women, who have started making handicrafts, have been selling them in village fairs. The prices range between Rs 20 and Rs 500 apiece.

"I use easily available materials such as jute and wood. I supply the materials and teach the women how to prepare the handicrafts. At times, I also take the products to fairs," Guria said.

The materials required to make the handicrafts include jute threads, needles, adhesives, scissors, chisels, hammers and other carpentry tools. The retired policeman said he had spent Rs 4,000 to buy the tools.

"This is my passion. I am not a trained artisan. During my life as a constable, I could not do all this. After retirement, I decided to share my knowledge with the village women, who find it difficult to make ends meet," said Guria, who has organised a number of handicrafts exhibitions on Lalan Fakir and of home decor at the Academy of Fine Arts and the Gaganendra Shilpa Pradarshanshala in Calcutta.

A share of the profits from the exhibitions goes to the village women.

"My desire to help the villagers became stronger after I retired and shifted to my home in Bhandarkhola in February this year. I found that a large section of the people is extremely poor. My objective is to make them independent," Guria said.

Pratima Debnath, whose husband is a cycle-van operator, said: "We are very poor. My husband earns only Rs 2,000 a month. To give him some support, I used to roll beedis at times. I could not do it often as I am allergic to tobacco dust. In the past seven months, I have been making jute products."

Guria said he was "fascinated" by the "philosophy of Lalan Fakir".

"I have read a lot about him and also listen to his songs. I try to share his thoughts with these people and encourage them to be good human beings," he said.