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About Us
EMPOWERING RURAL WOMEN ENTERPRISES THROUGH DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

In India, 85% of the 64 million MSMEs encompass Own Account Enterprises (OAEs), with one-third operating in manufacturing. Approximately 17 million of these are manufacturing OAEs, including an estimated 3 million artisanal enterprises, housing nearly 7 million artisans across roughly 3,500 clusters. Among these artisans, 56% are female, with textiles representing 50% of the clusters. FMC’s extensive experience, spanning over 100 artisanal clusters, predominantly in textiles, highlights fundamental knowledge gaps in basic proportional drawing, color utilization, and contemporary market-aligned concept creation. The pandemic has accentuated a digital divide- favouring tech-savvy organized businesses while adversely impacting unorganized micro-enterprises, particularly artisanal communities. The lack of technology access and vernacular language-enabled digital tools further marginalizes these artisans, exacerbating their challenges in adapting to digitalization trends.

Women artisans have been mobilized through existing Self-Help Groups (SHGs), government linkages, or other prevalent networks and organized into 300+ Producer Groups (P.G.s) at the village level, equivalent to SHGs. Additionally, two P.G.s have been merged to form batches of 30 artisans, who underwent drawing training programs totaling 120 hours. Training hours were tailored to accommodate the feasibility of women artisans, allowing them to balance learning new skill sets with existing income-generating work and household activities. A hybrid training model (online/offline) enabled artisans to participate from their homes, gather at the village level, or visit E-Learning Centers. The 120 hours of drawing training were divided into 30 hours of direct training and 90 hours of self-practice. Further, they were trained in social media, e-commerce, and cybersecurity, along with product photography. A market linkage was created to make the initiative demand-led. Additionally, schematic linkages were provided. Digital A/V manuals were created in vernacular languages to facilitate easy and effective learning. E-learning centers served as digital hubs where artisans accessed the internet at no cost for online activities, including learning and document downloading. These centers have the potential to evolve into sustainable revenue-generating centers in the future.

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