IDUKKI: Being from the traditional Muthuvan tribal community where education and employment for woman are still taboo, customs like ostracisation and menstrual exile are prevalent, Sudhalakshmi’s achievements are all the more glittering. It was her hard work and determination that saw the 27-year-old complete her diplomas, in auxiliary nursing midwifery (ANM) and medical laboratory technology (DMLT), with good grades in 2016.
But the bad health of her parents prevented her from moving out for a job and their poor financial background made starting a business a distant dream. Despite knocking on various departmental doors for financial assistance, a satisfactory response has not been forthcoming. Sudha, as she is popularly known in her community, was not one to lose heart. She bought an old sewing machine for a pittance and mastered stitching watching tutorial videos. Now with her dreams of a job kept in abeyance, Sudha sews clothes for her many customers from inside and outside the settlement.
“Most girls in our community are educated up to class 10. Pursuing further studies is a real struggle because the stigma attached to it, which is compounded by unequal gender norms,” says Sudha. Her parents however were cooperative and supported her dream of higher education. After the ANM course from a private college in Adimali, Sudha went on to complete her DMLT from Tamil Nadu.
Job offers followed, but from distant locations. Sudha couldn’t bear to move away from her father, Sivaraj, who is paralysed from the waist down, and her mother, who suffers from lifestyle diseases, and took a job with a private hospital in nearby Marayur, which paid her Rs 2,000 a month. Following an accident, six months into the new job, she decided to call it quits.
“The realisation that I can’t continue in the profession that I am qualified for made me think of starting a business.” Official apathy notwithstanding, Sudha opened a common service centre in Kanthalloor in 2020 with assistance from some acquaintances and her own money. However, Covid impacted the business and Sudha closed the venture in 2021, unable to pay monthly room rent. That is when she took to stitching. “I manage to earn around Rs 5,000 every month,” she said.
The sewing machine is now in a state of disrepair and Sudha hopes to go on until it stops functioning. “I am weighing all options for financial support. But there is no ray of hope in sight,” she says, sounding dejected.
When contacted, Marayoor tribal extension officer Jolly P M said the department had been providing photocopier machines to interested tribals as a means of self employment under the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP). “But new applications are currently not being invited,” she said. Jolly said that although the department has the provision to provide financial assistance below Rs 1 lakh to individual tribals, in Sudhalakshmi’s case, she is educated and a diploma holder in nursing. “Her name is among the educated tribal women being considered for facilitator posts in the settlements themselves. This list has been forwarded to the minister for SC/STs,” Jolly added.