Project Karigari provides job-specific skills training and market-oriented livelihood assistance. Drawing from Literacy India’s three pillars – education, employability and empowerment – the project’s motto is ‘earn while you learn’. Gyantantra Udbhav, software designed by Literacy India is used to impart education to Karigari beneficiaries. GDD also has modules which are customised especially for adults and adolescents.Karigari has been implemented in tribal districts, which include some of the most under-developed regions of the country. It helps link the backward communities with modern livelihood options and trains them with employable skills.

The beneficiaries are selected and admitted in the training process, after which they are provided placement in garment factories, export houses, private companies, corporate houses, beauty parlours and so on, depending upon the skill they have honed. A few have even started their own businesses after availing the interest-free loan from Literacy India. Under this programme, around 2,000 women and youth completed training in tailoring, beauty, CCA, organic farming, mobile repair work and accessory making in 2019. Most women who are trained under Karigari sell their handcrafted products through Indha.Indha, our social enterprise, is the production arm of project Karigari’s skills and livelihood programme. Indha products are sold online as well as in different exhibitions and fairs. As a not-for-profit entity, the revenue earned is used to sustain and scale up Karigari, apart from ensuring fair price for all the Indha artisans. Indha products have become quite popular among many donors and can also be found on the shelves of OMO and Bombay Store in Mumbai, Instore in Noida, Killol, Tupperware and Discount Circuit, among others. Apart from this, these products are regularly exhibited at MNCs like American Express, Dell and IBM. LI also holds various fairs in flea markets at Select City Walk, Saket, Akshay Prathishtan Mela and few embassies.

Around 2,678 women benefitted under project Indha in 2019 and 75% women started earning for the first time after joining Indha Social Enterprise.Literacy India prioritises sources of livelihood that reduce the strain on the environment. We train farmers in organic farming methods to cater to the demand for chemical-free produce in the market. 550 farmers were directly and indirectly trained in 2019 in organic farming, kitchen gardening, vegetable farming and organic manure preparation.