A simple woman born and brought up in the Kumaon valley of Uttarakhand, Krishna Bisht, was always influenced by the handiwork of her fellow villagers, especially the knitting patterns that they are famous for creating. The beautiful colours and intricate designs with their needle work is an art in itself. Neat and attractive, these were worth much more than the artisans were paid for, only because they were classified as unskilled labour.
Thirty years ago, while studying for her MA in Hindi, Krishna came to the decision that wanted to help these women achieve a better lively hood. She came up with an idea that has changed the lives of a million women in rural Uttarakhand. Mahila Haat the brainchild of Mrs. Krishna Haat is an NGO that she started single-handedly way back in 1987.
Back then, NGOs weren’t that common and being a woman in a male dominated area, taking such an initiative was not easy for Mrs. Bisht, who was just a young married woman. But her passion to help other women in need was greater than any difficulty she was about to face.
That Mahila Haat has been successful in empowering women is evident by the honour that has been bestowed upon Mrs. Bisht. She received the Jankidevi Bajaj Puraskar 2014 for outstanding performance in rural entrepreneurship for Mahila Haat, an endeavour that’s a vital part of her existence today.
Mrs. Krishna Bisht being awarded by Priya Dutt and Justice C.S. Dharmadhikari
“Uneducated women even though extremely talented in handicrafts face a number of problems while trying to make some money,” she said. “They lack knowledge of marketing support, strategy, product quality analysis, exploitation with low wages and procurement of raw material. This makes it extremely tough for them to setup a successful venture on their own.”
Mahila Haat, thus, was conceived as a facilitation centre for poor women producers, who face such common problems. “The NGO provides skill development training in association with the NID (National Institute of Design), raw material and marketing support and promotes solidarity among them by organizing them in Self Help Groups (SHGs),” she adds.
The NGO has strategically hired professionals from NID who came forward to help.
The NGO works in a unique way where they divide women into different Self Help Groups that work towards saving money, creating their own bank accounts and getting loans apart from being educated about issues like health, hygiene, nutrition, girl child education, poly houses, vermin compost, pits and more.
Since she has been helping so many women, we asked her about the different problems women in India face. Krishna had a number of problems on her list but she shared this heart-warming story of Mrs. Vimla Pawar, a very poor artisan who had a small business in Almora but was a victim of domestic violence and abuse. “Uska pati peekar aata aur usse maarta peetta aur saarein paise le leta,” she said. (Her husband would come home drunk and beat her and take away all her money.) This eventually led her into heavy loans. But soon Vimla had the wisdom to join Mahila Haat and collected enough money to win back her business (selling milk from the cows she owned) and became self dependent.
Krishna has also helped developed a library called “Shiksha Sansadhan Kender” in Almora and along with her work at Mahila Haat, she has also conducted a study on the Status of Women in Kumaon Hills (Himalayas). The report, “Women of Kumaon – their Traditions and Strengths” has even been published in Danish.
She has also received an award from the Indian Development Foundation in December 2010 for women empowerment and environment sustainability and has worked to organise the Women producers in Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Nagaland, and Uttaranchal. Krishna is an inspiration for the many rural women caught in the middle of village politics and poverty as well as other passionate ladies trying to make a difference.
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