In seven taluks of Gadag district, the Self-Employment Center will be established by the Differently-Abled Entrepreneurship and Leadership Foundation, primarily offering tailoring training for individuals with disabilities. The center aims to help them engage in life-sustaining activities, such as dairy farming, roti making, candle making, saffron cultivation, honey farming, and more.
Most people with disabilities lack the necessary information about essential resources, which has hindered their development and caused many to feel lost and left behind. To address this, the Deal Foundation has appointed Livelihood Officers in every taluk to work closely with disabled individuals. The Deal Foundation aims to gather information about people with disabilities in each taluk and centralize it, providing them with details about available facilities. Through providing information on self-help groups and training, self-employment opportunities were created.Nirmala, the Livelihood Officer of Gadag taluk, visited Sambhapura village in Gadag taluk and informed the disabled people there about the work of the Deal Foundation and the benefits of self-help groups. As a result, the disabled individuals in the village united and formed an association, deciding to establish a group. With Nirmala’s support, an account was opened at KVG Bank in the name of Shambhavi Vikalachetana Swasahay Sangha. Every month, all the members contribute ₹100.
Later, Nirmala provided book writing training, disability awareness training, and financial leadership training to the association. As a result, every month, all the members meet and manage the association. Similarly, Shivakumar Shirol, the training coordinator at Deal Foundation, offered job training to the disabled people’s association. He provided information about various training programs, such as paper bag making, dairy farming, honey farming, and more, all organized by the Deal Foundation. Additionally, he informed the members about market connections after they became employed. He also supported the members by sharing information about the availability of machines, such as tailoring machines, roti machines, and paper plate machines, through subsidies from SIDBI.
After receiving the training, the members needed capital to start their jobs, so they decided to take loans from their savings. Muthappa Pujara decided to take a loan of ₹5,000 to open a small shop and start his business. Similarly, Sasikala Kurubara took a loan of ₹10,000 and is now engaged in agriculture. These members have received their loans and are now successfully engaged in employment. They are making their repayments on time, without any arrears. Meanwhile, the rest of the members are preparing all the necessary documents to obtain a bank loan and start their own employment ventures.
Every year, the Deal Foundation presents a self-reliance award to self-help societies from each taluk that have successfully managed associations for disabled individuals and women who have obtained loans and engaged in employment. Similarly, this year, an award of ₹5,000 has been given to this association. The award aims to help them secure higher-level employment opportunities and grow economically. This award has been presented to one association from each taluk with the goal of fostering further growth and self-reliance.
In this way, the members of the association are gaining recognition by engaging in employment through training provided by the Deal Foundation. Since this initiative was started by the association of disabled people, we are collecting money through savings, even if it’s our own contribution. Additionally, we received training that helped us engage in employment. We also obtained a loan from our savings, so the interest earned is deposited back into the members’ savings, enabling the association to grow to a higher level. With the goal of starting a cooperative society at the district level, Veena madam made us shareholders. She also provided us with information about additional facilities available. On behalf of all the members of the association, we thank Deal Foundation, Nirmala, and Veena for giving us these valuable opportunities. We express our hope that Deal Foundation will continue to provide us with more cooperation and support.
In this way, the Deal Foundation is creating self-help societies for disabled individuals and women, providing them with job training to help them advance economically. Additionally, by offering awards, they are instilling enthusiasm in the disabled and women, motivating them to grow to higher levels. Thus, everyone hopes that the Deal Foundation will continue to work for the disabled across the country.
For any specific queries or assistance regarding this blog, please contact info@deal-foundation.com and visit www.deal-foundation.com to learn more about the work we do.
Thank you.