Progressing, sheet by paper sheet.....

Visited TARAgram Orccha , a sprawling campus where it was heartening to see activities empowering rural women .

TARAgram was set up in  1996, in Tikamgarh district by Development Alternatives "eco-solutions for people and the planet" with the aim of creating new economic opportunities for communities using local resources , nurturing enterprises using innovative technologies, inspiring community based action and organisations.

The campus has many units for different activities, among them :
making building material from crushed stone waste,
making non-wood-pulp paper from cotton waste,
generation of renewable energy with biomass and agro-waste,
efficient management of water ,
and running a community radio station with 100% local talent.

TARA stands for Technology and Action for Rural Advancement .

At the time of visit,  only the paper making unit had begun work for the day. The unit has about 40 women of a very backward community, the Sahraiya tribe, handling everything from Alpha to Omega of the process .

Spoke to some of them and learnt that they now have a measure of financial independence and are are able to put their daughters in school . They work 7 to 8 hours with lunch and tea breaks and earn 150 rupees each, per day.

The raw material for making the strong paper is cotton  waste from the textile mills ( on that day, they were handling hosiery waste from Tirupur in Tamil Nadu )

The fabric bits were weighed and fed into the shredder ( at the far end)

The shredded bits were manually sorted and cleaned to remove any plastic or metal content .

The grinder , where the waste was reduced to a pulp.

Pulp treated with alum and churned and watered down . Colours ( organic dyes) are added at this stage . 

Pulp spread  over "mesh screens'  to required thickness.  The screen frames lifted to drain off  water. Only a thin layer of pulp remains on screen .

Then the screens were inverted over a fabric base , a weight put on it and the two women sat over the weight to press out all water . The women were wearing a plastic wrap-around below waist to keep their  clothes from getting wet !

With water squeezed out, the layer of pulp was peeled out and the non-woven fabric like paper sheets were hung up to dry.

                                     

The dry sheets were cut, jagged edges trimmed. 

Paper sheets were folded , glued and turned into sturdy bags...

...and other beautiful things like files,note books, lamp shades, coasters etc .

Since the initiative has Government support, the products, both as paper and as finished goods,  find a wide market through various emporia and corporate houses. Also exported.

Not only is it an employment opportunity for marginalised women, but the product itself is ecofriendly as it does not use wood . As per their claim :
One Tonne of  this paper saves 3 tons of wood and 100 Cubic Meters of water  which translates to :
6 trees , 3 years ofcooking fuel, 25 years supply of water for one person and needing only 1 sq.ft of land to dump the waste which is non toxic.

A lot of Feel Good energy was pervading the campus !
Left with a bagful of paper products and  a lot of positive feelings .

Inevitably, some doubts were raised : The major one being,  whether the women were being exploited in the name of  empowerment .
The paper products were not inexpensive. And, for sure, in city emporia and abroad, they would definitely cost more. To be charitable, the profits made are believed to be  ploughed back into making life easier for the village community.
When spoken to, the women seemed contented enough to have employment and steady income. The working conditions seemed non threatening .

Trust. Believe. And Hope.