A grassroots initiative in Khandwa is giving women who are tied down by household duties a way to earn a living without leaving home. Many women in the district want to work but are held back by childcare, housework and family obligations that make a regular outside job impossible. To reach them, a group calling itself the Jeevandan Group has begun offering home-based training and paid work aimed squarely at making these women financially independent.
Five women and a handful of volunteers built it from scratch
The group was set up jointly by five women from the city along with several social workers. On the men's side, the founding team includes Sunil Dutt Sharma, Raviraj Patel, Kanhaiya Sarangat and Mansingh Patel, while Monika Shrivas and Sonika Shrivas, alongside Renu Birdari, Rekha Yogi and Shubh Yadav, are driving the effort from the women's side. Everyone involved shares the same goal, connect homebound women to paid work and help them become financially self-sufficient.
Training comes first, paid work follows
Group member Monika Shrivas said every woman who signs up is first given hands-on training before any work is handed over. That training covers making rakhis, selling rakhis, tailoring, adding fall and piping to sarees, and stitching blouses and petticoats. Women who never finished school or don't hold any formal skill certificate are not turned away either, they are placed into whichever task suits their existing ability.
No sewing skills? There is still a way in
Shantilal Patel said it isn't necessary for every woman to know tailoring. Those who don't can instead take up selling sarees or preparing rakhis. The idea is to match each woman with an option she is actually equipped for, so that nobody is left out of the programme purely because she lacks one particular skill.
Signing up means submitting Aadhaar, PAN and bank details
Women who want to join first have to complete a registration process that requires an Aadhaar card, a PAN card and bank passbook details. The group says this step exists to keep the whole operation organised and accountable, so that the work assigned, and the income that follows, stays consistent and traceable.
Work from home or from the centre, earnings scale with effort
According to the group, how much a woman earns each month depends directly on how much work she puts in. She can choose to complete the work from home or come in to the group's centre, both routes are kept open. That flexibility is aimed squarely at women who, for whatever reason, are unable to step outside their homes to hold a job.
The bigger goal: confidence and identity, not just income
For the people running it, the Jeevandan Group is not only about wages. It is also meant to give these women confidence and a sense of identity of their own. Whether the initiative goes on to change the lives of large numbers of women in Khandwa is something only time will tell, but for now it has already lit a spark of hope in several households across the city.
