Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan-Qasab: Empowering the Rural Women through their Handicrafts

Responding to widespread concerns about the economic crisis in Kutch and its impact on the rural craftswomen, the Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan (KMVS) aims at empowering the rural women of the region.

QASAB at a Glance

Q asab, a Producer Company, was registered in August 2010. It has a membership of about 1,200 women, who are traditional embroidery artisans, belonging to Nakhatrana, Pachcham and Khadir areas of Kutch district in Gujarat. The company provides its members a complete set of services from sourcing raw material, organizing production in the villages, design support and marketing. The USP of Qasab is its high quality products (furnishings, accessories, women’s wear, etc.), embellished with traditional authentic embroidery of the various communities inhabiting the region. Qasab sells its products to buyers, both within and outside India, and runs two retail outlets in Bhuj.

The Evolution Of QASAB

The Kutch district of Gujarat, bound by the sea and the desert, is an arid region with low annual precipitation and frequent droughts. It has a population of about 15 lakhs that is predominantly rural, with dry-land farming and animal husbandry being the main sources of livelihood. The different communities based in this region have a rich heritage of exquisite handicrafts, especially embroidery. During consecutive droughts in the mid-1980s, a large number of households in the villages began to depend upon craft production for their survival. The status of women in the rural areas was poor, as was evident from the hardships they faced, the restrictive social norms, and their low health and education levels.