The meeting was organized under Women Beedi workers empowerment programme on 26 March 2023. Around 60 participants, mostly minority women workers of Narghoshi, Manika , and Khalispur villages participated in the meeting. This meeting was organized at Jawahar Jyoti Bal Vikas Kendra, Akhtiyarpur in Samastipur district. Purpose of this meeting was to discuss skill-oriented training to generate livelihood options. Women and girls present in the meeting asked to conduct the training of beauticians while some of them stressed on sewing and embroidery. Based on these skills women can start their own enterprises with small capital in their own villages.
Most of these women are a typical conservative minority and they do not prefer to go outside. These skills can be utilized to earn at village level and they can start business at their own house also. Salima Khatun from Manika and Kaniz Fatima from Khalispur narrated their story where they were denied the Beedi Workers identity card. Several other women have echoed the same view. District Magistrate officially presides over the committee which issues the ID cards of beedi workers. A memorandum demanding smoothening the process will be submitted to the DM Samstipur. Our local volunteer will facilitate these women in this process. PAIRVI has been working with women beedi workers mainly in Jamui, Banka and Samastipur districts in Bihar and Jabalpur district in Madhya Pradesh. Our prime focus is accessing the basic rights and social security schemes, developing the alternative livelihood options and entrepreneurship skills, building leadership among the women beedi workers and developing the cooperative/associations of women beedi workers.