An all-women brick unit to end gender inequality in real estate
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Lucknow: A group of 30 women in Lucknow's backyard are working hard to create UP's first all-woman unit that will manufacture high-strength
green concrete eco-bricks
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The initiative, called Nirman by Women, is led by a private company named Ventura Prefab with the support of the State Rural Livelihood Mission (UPSRLM). It is also an effort to challenge gender inequality in India's real estate and construction sector.
This is significant considering that the presence of women in India's real estate and construction sector stands at an abysmal 12%, and that too in secondary roles with lower wages. However, in this pilot, women are being trained in primary jobs such as machine operation, batch mixing, and concrete moulding, among others, which were traditionally meant for men. Chief Secretary UP, Manoj Kumar Singh, along with senior officials from the UPSRLM, visited the factory on Thursday.
An interaction with the trainee women brought to the fore stories of grit and awe. Poonam Sharma, a woman in her mid-20s, carried her six-month-old daughter to start a new life, away from her alcohol-addict husband. "I am a victim of a patriarchal mindset and gender bias, but I don't want my daughter to inherit the same fate. This training came as an opportunity to me, and I availed it to carve my individual and independent identity," said the woman, whose aunt takes care of the baby when she is working in the factory.
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Manta Devi of Chak Prithvirajpur village rebelled against her husband and in-laws to learn the skill. "Work guarantees the flow of money, not lamentations," remarked the lean and thin woman. Kavita Bhatnagar, who is associated with the training, informed that it took a lot of effort to convince the women to join the programme. "There were all kinds of barriers. Many women had no confidence; others felt that they weren't as strong as men. Several interactions with the women through self-help group lead ladies helped to iron out the doubts," she recalled.
But there were women who saw the opportunity as a chance to chase their dream of financial self-reliance. Akanksha Singh, an 18-year-old girl awaiting her board result, is a case in point. "My father is a cancer patient. We sold off our land for his treatment. My financial independence is necessary to lessen the burden on my family," she said, hoping to launch a start-up of her own through various entrepreneurial schemes of the state govt.
Rajani Devi of Khasrawa village wants a better future for her children and is aware that the single income of her husband can never ensure the continuity of education. Avadheesh Srivastava, who holds a master's degree in civil engineering and is training these women, was both shocked and amazed upon meeting his 'students'. His first realisation was that they had very limited foundational understanding of science while their minds were full of questions that were never answered.
Machine handler and trainer Kuldeep said, "Women are naturally gritty, and this lot proved it to me. They were not scared to try anything. The moment they understood the science behind the machine, they took control of it and practised it till perfection." Mother of this initiative, Rashmi Sinha, who has worked closely on women's issues in various places, including the United Nations, said that the training would end in a few weeks, but the journey of change has just begun.
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