Society has progressed over time, empowering women to break through the pre-existing stereotypes and venture into various fields, previously frowned upon. While the contemporary educational system encourages youth to take up professions without any discrimination, there has still been irregularity in society with girl dropouts or unemployment due to the fear of safety at the workplace, family pressure and lack of job opportunities in their desired sectors.
Many women in the age group of 20-50, are either homemakers or are forced to work in places where they do not benefit, are paid less or not satisfied with the work.
The scenario of the migrant women in the state is substandard. Not only are they degraded and considered as outsiders, they are also made inferior within their own community due to their gender, thus being double-marginalised in society. The work that they are offered and expected to do are menial labour jobs, due to their financial instability, which does not give them an opportunity to grow.
According to a study conducted of around 100 households of migrant workers by ‘Pravasi Bandhu’, it has been found that many of these women workers are either domestic workers or home makers who wish to attain skill training but are unaware of the availability of resources and find it difficult to register due to documentations, time restrictions of existing courses and the unaffordability of private courses.
Their request for tailoring has been quite dominant as it is a skill that does not demand complete literacy from the individual, it provides flexibility of work since many are homemakers; making it feasible, it can be practiced individually within their living spaces and have no time-constraints and is a life-long benefiting course.
Workers India Federation and Pravasi Bandhu under Caritas Goa in association with Jan Shikshan Sansthan conducted a central government-certified tailoring course for women at Old Goa in January 2025.
The course commenced on the 21st of January 2025 with an inaugural program along with the Director of Jan Shikshan Sansthan, Mr Shrihari Athalye, their project coordinator Mrs Nimisha Pal and their teacher Ms Radhika Dulapkar along with the Secretary of the Old Goa Panchayat, Mr Subodh Prabhu.
A total of 20 women from the economically weaker section of society joined the course. These women are home-makers and domestic workers and in this 240-hour program, they were trained in essential tailoring skills, including basic tailoring from making baby clothes to saree blouses, pants, kurtas, and so on. This initiative was designed to help the participants enhance their skills and gain the confidence needed to become financially independent. The course ended on the 21st of March 2025.
Upon completion, the Sarpanch of Old Goa, Smt. Medha M. Parvatkar, awarded the women their well-earned certificates. With the intention of encouraging these women, the village panchayat was gracious enough to accommodate the classes in their hall.
Now, apart from sewing their own clothes, they are taking orders for tailoring from their respective homes. Today these empowered women are trying to help others upskill themselves by introducing them to programs that will help them boost their skill-set, creating a ripple effect that will one day end the discrimination and marginalisation they currently face.
