Due to the inability of agriculture to sustain the large rural population in the Chittaurgarh district in eastern Rajasthan, there is an urgent need to develop non-farm sources of income. While the region has traditionally depended upon agriculture for livelihood, there is potential to develop new sources of income with existing local resources. Prayas has begun a program with village communities to use bamboo resources in handicrafts to be sold for monetary income. Additionally, economic disempowerment and social marginalization of sections of society are tightly interlinked. The inability to control over monetary resources subsequently reduces self esteem, ability to make decisions concerning one’s own life and control over health. In an effort to bring about empowerment of women through economic security, Prayas has worked extensively in the formation and facilitation of micro-credit groups in traditionally economically backwards communities.
