Kumbaya

The unique significance of Kumbaya is that these products are made by women from one of the most remote, backward and poor regions of India, because of a new skill and employment opportunity introduced in a predominantly agrarian region where there have been no traditional marketable crafts. Kumbaya has four centres in different villages where employment is available and guaranteed, for almost 300 days in a year to over 80 producers. Today over 1000 women in 70 villages have learned stitching. Apart from the producers who work regularly with us, hundreds of those trained stitch from home. Kumbaya is also deeply committed to disabled women and men, whose inability to contribute manual labour in an agricultural area like ours leads to their marginalization and abandonment. The most rewarding impact of Kumbaya has been including them as skilled producers and high earners.

Kumbaya has been supported by Samaj Pragati Sahayog all these years. Started as a project for the economic empowerment of women, it is now an established and viable social enterprise, struggling to keep up and fast outgrowing its resources. The idea of having a producer company was to hand over the ownership, management and responsibility of Kumbaya to those who participate, benefit and have stakes in this economic activity. On the 24 th of July 2015, Kumbaya Producer Company Limited was incorporated (KPCL).