After 45-year-old Shanthi S was evicted from her home in Suryanagar and moved to the resettlement site in Perumbakkam, one of her biggest concerns was making ends meet after losing her job. A single parent with two children, Shanthi worked as a domestic help in and around Kotturpuram before being resettled. Travelling back to work was not an option as she couldn’t leave her kids home alone all day.
The loss of livelihood has been a significant issue for residents of resettlement sites like Shanthi since 2017. This problem is considered a primary cause of the rising incidents of domestic violence and child abuse in the area.
We have written about this in detail in the first and second part of this series. In part three, we explore the issues with the skill development training offered by the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) to people in the community. When executed with attention to detail, this would help the women not only get jobs but, also fight domestic violence and child abuse.
Promise of a livelihood
For women like Shanthi, the skill development training brought hope of job opportunities and a better life. But, do you know that there are over a 1,000 certified tailors in Perumbakkam as a result of the training programme? If so, why are the women not able to make a living out of it?
While they received certificates after completing the 3-month course, none of them were given sewing machines. Moreover, the facilitators did not follow up to ensure the participants got a job.
Well, this is how it started. Since 2017, the TNUHDB has been conducting various skill development courses in the resettlement areas of Perumbakkam in collaboration with NGOs.
These courses range from tailoring classes to beautician courses, driving (auto and car), painting, packaging masala packets, making eco-friendly plates and cups, housekeeping, foot mat and jute bag stitching, computer classes and so on. While the other courses were conducted intermittently, the tailoring classes have been predominantly consistent.
The making of a thousand tailors
“We have concluded training for 10 batches so far. Around five such training centres have been conducting tailoring courses inside the campus since 2017. This means at least 1,000 women have been trained by professionals and certified as tailors,” says Vasanthi*, one of the trainers.
Each batch has 20 trainees, who learn to stitch blouses, petticoats and night dresses. Catching up with the trend, they are also trained in aari work and embroidery.
“I was in the 2018 batch of the tailoring course. I used to religiously attend the classes from 12 pm to 3 pm for three months hoping that it would somehow help me find work. I felt proud when I got certified as a tailor,” says Shanthi.
But employment is hard to come by. As a woman in her forties, she notes that many employers are less inclined to hire women over the age of 40 in various sectors.
When asked how she manages financially, she says, “I get loans from private lenders or women’s self help groups and manage with it. Whatever I earn goes into repaying the loan.”
Read more: Combatting domestic violence in Chennai
Back to square one
Eventually, Shanthi went back to taking up odd jobs even after getting certified as a tailor. “We are grateful for the training. But no one follows up with us on what we do after the training. What use are the certificates if we do not have the means to purchase a sewing machine?” asks Shanthi.
“Tailoring is a promising profession. We learnt how to make the products but we do not know how to market them,” says Divya R (35), another tailor from the community.
The women want the government to take responsibility and help them get jobs after providing the skill.
“We were happy in our old locality with jobs, family, and a decent life. The government relocated us, so it should help us earn a living with our skills. Regardless of age, thousands of women were eager to learn new skills. Wouldn’t they be willing to work if they knew it could lead to income?” asks Shanthi.
What do they want?
Individual tailoring machines are not beneficial for the community. They are seeking a garment unit that can provide a sustainable livelihood.
“The government has been constructing more housing units in some of the empty plots inside the resettlement site. Instead, they can utilise the space to set up a garments/export unit and employ the certified tailors there,” says a woman from the community.
A garment unit will not only employ tailors but also require staff for measuring, cutting, trimming, attaching buttons, inspecting final pieces, and other administrative, managerial, and clerical tasks.
“If a garment unit is set up here, it will give employment opportunity to hundreds of people. The state could direct government school uniform orders to the garments unit. Though it is a seasonal business, it will help us in many ways,” says Vasanthi.
Vasanthi tried to secure external orders and utilise local tailors but faced challenges due to transportation costs. She suggests that the government organise an expo to showcase the trained tailors’ work in Perumbakkam, inviting buyers and potential marketers to help build a network. She notes that while the sponsoring NGO has provided some support, their assistance is limited.
Read more: Domestic workers face issues like wage theft, harassment, but have no one to complain to
Why do they ask for a garments unit?
The demand for a garment unit is linked not only to livelihoods, but also to a solution for a larger social issue.
In many families, both husband and wife leave for work as early as 5 am and return only around 9 pm. Often, there is no one to look after the children, especially during post-school hours. “This makes them more vulnerable and leads to instances of child abuse. We have recorded such cases in Perumbakkam and other resettlement areas too,” points out a community worker.
“If the garments unit is set up here, the women could find work at a walkable distance, which would ensure a regular income for the family. They could leave their homes after their children left for school and get back home before the children came back home. We could ensure our children are safe,” notes the community worker.
Moreover, the financial independence would give many women a way out of domestic abuse. “The respect for women will increase when they earn and ease the pressure in the family. The dominance of men will hopefully reduce,” she adds.
Need for holistic and gender-responsive planning
Pointing out the root causes of this problem, Vanessa Peter, Founder of the Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC), says that the government does not conduct a socio-economic profiling of the community before resettlement.
“There is a major lapse in the planning of the livelihood restoration programme. In the absence of data, the programme is based on the assumption that people will find jobs if skill development courses are offered to them.” She adds that most of these courses reinforce gender stereotypes. Despite the government’s efforts with entrepreneurship programmes, many courses still reflect these stereotypes.
S. Divyadharshini, a 20-year-old college graduate from the community, says her peers are interested in courses like spoken English, Tally, Python and coding. “These skills would help us secure jobs that match our qualifications,” she explains.
Eviction and resettlement are not gender-responsive. Before the eviction, the people in the community had a heterogeneous livelihood. “The location of their residence and market areas around their houses have been the primary sources of livelihood. Perumbakkam or the other resettlement areas have no such scope,” says Vanessa.
Training as a standalone approach is not going to help unless the community has the investment and marketing knowledge. “Given that these families are already stuck in a debt cycle, there is no scope for them to find investments,” she adds.
Despite repeated attempts to contact TNUHDB officials, we did not get a response from them.
Skill development programmes aim to empower women, but these can succeed if they can earn a livelihood from them. It’s time for the government to take responsibility and elevate these programmes.
(*some names were changed to protect identity)