Nizamabad: Despite all the obstacles, Nagamani (33), is an inspiration to others. She is not only overcoming her health issues but also securing a permanent livelihood for her family, apart from her milk business.
With unwavering determination, Nagamani learnt stitching by attending training sessions conducted at ITI Government College, Nizamabad, by travelling from Armour, thrice a week. The initiative was mooted by Nizamabad district trainee collector Ajmera Sanketh Kumar to provide livelihood opportunities for HIV-affected women and rural women with a unique cloth brand ‘Positiweave’.
What does the group work for?
The group specialises in crafting Ikat apparel for women and children. Make a difference with every stitch! To market their products like kurtis, Nagamani and other HIV-affected and rural women are using WhatsApp as their platform. Sharing her experience with the NewsMeter, Nagamani said that she was the sole breadwinner for her family.
“My husband died a few years ago. Since then, I have been managing my livelihood with two children through the milk business. Many of them in the society wouldn’t prefer to provide employment to HIV-affected people like me. With a passion towards stitching, I attended the training sessions and now earning an income of Rs 3,000 per week. The income earned through this helps me to educate my two children,” Nagamani said.
Like Nagamani, Amrutha from Kamareddy, who is also an HIV-affected woman, pursued the stitching course by attending the training sessions at Nizamabad.
“My husband earns a little amount from his job and it has become a tough task to educate my two children and meet our daily needs. We believe that no matter how harsh life is, we have to work hard to make the future of our children bright. I came across the unique cloth brand ‘Positiweave’ through my friends and decided to support my husband. Now, I am earning Rs 3,000 per week through stitching and selling kurtis,” she said.
Positiweave among prominent projects in the country
Ajmera Sanketh Kumar said that the Centre for Cooperatives and Livelihoods Self Reliant (CCL) at The Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, has asked the trainee collectors to come up with a project to empower the women.
“As part of it, I submitted a proposal to provide livelihood opportunities for the HIV-affected women who are the most ignored persons in the society. To take forward the initiative, I have chosen to produce a product from Ikat cloth with the support of HIV-affected women and market it through them to earn their livelihood,” he said and added that the LBSNAA has finalised eight projects across the country and Positiweave was one among them.
Elaborating further, Sanketh Kumar said that the initiative was taken to the notice of Nizamabad district collector Rajeevgandhi Hanumanthu who supported the cause and provided a space at ITI Government College to train the HIV-affected women with stitching courses. In October 2024, an interactive session was held with HIV-affected women who were referred by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Working with weavers
“My intention is to promote the clothing made of Ikat and support the HIV-affected women who are the most neglected in the society. We directly purchased Ikat cloth from the weavers through the support of TS Handloom Weavers’ Cooperative Society Ltd (TESCO) in November 2024. Initially, the HIV-affected women stitched kurtis as a prototype after attending training sessions,” Sanketh Kumar.
To take forward the initiative, the LBSNAA provides a fund of Rs 2 lakh for each project. Of the total, around Rs 1 lakh was spent on purchasing machinery, equipment and raw materials, while around Rs 50,000-60,000 was spent on purchasing the Ikat clothing to produce products for premium customers and fees for the trainers, Sanketh Kumar said.
He also stated that the HIV-affected women can’t attend the sessions regularly due to their health issues. Keeping this in mind, training sessions were conducted for them at their convenience.
Quality of Ikat kurtis commended
When asked about the sales of Ikat products, the trainee collector said, “After kurtis were readied by the HIV-affected women the samples were sent to my other batch mates to verify their feedback. Many of them expressed their satisfaction after observing the kurtis whose price ranged from Rs 1,000 including the delivery fee. So far, we have received 30 orders from the public through the Positiweave WhatsApp number.”
Asked about the expansion plans of the initiative, the trainee collector said that they have readied a prototype of dress for children and men. Buoyed by the response from the public for dresses made of Ikat clothing, dresses for children and men would soon be stitched and marketed the same through Positiweave. Interested people can reach out to the Positiweave on WhatsApp number: 7670971978 to order the Ikat kurtis, he added.
