The Sangli district administration, a non-governmental organisation, Veshya Mahila AIDS Nirmulan Sanstha and a garment company have jointly set up a garment manufacturing training centre for the sex workers.
Commercial sex workers (CSW) here are getting a chance to escape from the flesh trade and earn their livelihood in a dignified manner. The Sangli district administration, a non-governmental organisation, Veshya Mahila AIDS Nirmulan Sanstha and a garment company have jointly set up a garment manufacturing training centre for the sex workers.
The centre, located at the hall of the Sangli Miraj Kupwad Municipal Corporation (SMKMC) building, was inaugurated by district guardian minister, Patangrao Kadam, on June 17.
The district collector, Shyam Vardhane; SMKMC deputy commissioner, Vijay Kulkarni; president of the NGO, Amirabi Sheikh; its secretary, Deepak Chavan; and chairman of the Vita town-based garment manufacturing unit, Luck Lark Textiles, Dhananjay Jadhav were present.
Vardhane told DNA that the CSWs are a weak section of the society and need the empowerment programmes.
Lucky Lark Textiles donated 25 stitching machines to the centre and allotted instructors to run the programme. Kadam has assured a sum of Rs10 lakh for purchasing 25 more machines.
The training sessions are conducted for three hours in the afternoons. There are batches of 25 CSWs. After two months’ training, Luck Lark Textiles will provide the CSWs with raw material for producing the garments.
The jobs will be given in such a manner that each sex worker can earn at least Rs250 a day. The sex workers should get a chance to live a life of dignity and honour,”
Vardhane said.
Sheikh and Chavan told DNA that the project would really benefit the hapless CSWs. “There are many CSWs wishing to relinquish the flesh trade. But they did not have any alternative to earn their bread and butter. Moreover, there are cases where some CSWs are not getting customers and are living in abject poverty,” said Sheikh, who is herself a sex worker.
Chavan told DNA that most of the CSWs in the area speak Kannada and cannot understand Marathi well. “Hence trainers who could interact in Kannada language have been selected for the programme,” he added.
The NGO has already set up an anganwadi for children of the CSWs for which Sheikh donated her 2,000 sq ft plot and the district administration sanctioned Rs4 lakh. The NGO also runs an informal school for the CSWs.
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