Jeevan Jyoti Kala Kendra

Usha Devi is a housewife who took a Rang De loan to purchase a sewing machine so that she can start some income generation activity from her home. Her husband is a painting contractor and she has two sons and two daughters. Her eldest daughter is married while the younger daughter is studying in the 12th standard. Her two sons manage a hardware store. She gets her orders from friends and family, and stitches women's clothes such as blouses, petticoats and salwar suits. Recently there was a fire in her house because of a leaky LPG cylinder. Some of the household articles were burnt or damaged in this incident and this includes her sewing machine. Thankfully it has only suffered minor damage and is currently being repaired.

Ruby Devi lives in the Damodarpur locality in Muzaffarpur with her husband and two young children. Her son is studying in Nursery while the elder daughter is in Class 3. Her husband is a carpenter and takes orders for making furniture. Ruby Devi was a home maker and in order to start an additional source of income for the family, she learnt tailoring at an institute. With the Rang De loan, she bought a second-hand sewing machine worth about Rs.4000 and take orders from people in her locality. She stitches blouses and petticoats for women. She currently does not have expertise in stitching a salwar suit and intends to get that skill which will increase her income. Since the loan was Rs.8000, she bought a wood cutting machine worth approx. Rs.4000 for her husband, which he uses in his carpentry work. The family's living standards are clearly improving - they have moved from a small tenement to building their own house with 3 rooms. She says her biggest monthly expenses are on food and education. She spends nearly Rs.2400 monthly on education expenses (school fees, tuition fees). It seems very common for parents to appoint a tuition teacher to comes home (or the student goes to a common place) where additional classes are held after school, the children are helped with their homework etc. It seems that the low education levels of the parents as well as their inability to give time and attention due to other chores are a big constraint and they overcome this by putting the children to tuition/coaching classes, despite the additional expense.