Interaction with Judai / Sedhai workers

TERI carried out detailed diagnostic study covering various downstream operations in glass finishing, which are generally done outside the factory premises in Firozabad. The diagnostic study was undertaken to gain insights into the various stages of bangle making and complexities involved in bangle making chain. It was observed during the study that a significant proportion of the local population (workers) was engaged in home-based judai/sedhai operations. Two areas were identified for initiating pilot actions, “judai/ sedhai” (joining the ends and straightening of bangles) operations and decorative glass item manufacturing operations. TERI is associated with Vikas Sansthan, a local grassroot level NGO, to undertake pilot action activities in two villages, Dokeli and Makhanpur.

Common work place for judai/sedhai operations
In order to address health concerns in judai/sedhai and explore an alternative community-based production relation (environment friendly work-shed), women’s SHGs (self help groups) were mobilized and an approach involving working in a common work place was experimented. Since children were not allowed in the work-shed, a crèche was run with the help of Vikas Sansthan. But as complexities arose in running the work-shed, both the common work-shed and the crèche had to be closed down. The experiment had mixed results. However, this common work-shed experiment could not sustain mainly due to market dynamics in the area. The key learnings that emerged were the need for effective mobilization of the local community and sensitising about occupational health aspects, taking all major players (contractors, workers, and key people in the community) on board and engagement of the target group in the intervention would be useful in strategizing future interventions.

Formation of collectives for glass decorative item manufacturers

Artisans Cooperative's discussions in Dokeli

The pilot initiative in village Dokeli focused on the artisans community that is engaged in making glass decorative items/toys. The project focused on organizing the workers as 'collectives' and having market linkage for their products and raw materials as the binding theme. Some of the activities that were undertaken included strengthening the artisan cooperative through registration, mobilizing more members in its fold, providing seed money for bulk purchase, preparing brochure for effective marketing, etc. In order to do these meaningfully, as a first step, an effort was made to capture the social profile of the artisans in the village and aspirations of the target group. Subsequently, formation and strengthening of SHGs of wives of the artisans added value in the entire intervention process. The work has started with a futuristic perspective wherein it is planned to even mobilize the entire artisan community engaged in decorative item manufacturers at the district level and bring them on a common platform in the form of a federation at a later stage for dialoguing, collective bargaining, and efficient marketing.