Towards Prosperity
Mohd Yaqoob Waloo and his family from Bandipora district, Jammu and Kashmir are weaving carpets for the last 25 years. Earlier, Yaqoob worked for the local contractor, who use to pay him around INR 800 per square feet. The earnings were not enough, and debts were mounting. To sustain his family, he often went out to work as labour. Yaqoob was supported with raw material (silk and cotton yarn) with which he made three carpets in eight months and sold at the rate of INR 1200 per feet. “We could never imagine earning INR 86000 in eight months. We have gradually cleared our debts”, exclaimed Yaqoob’s wife. Yaqoob is a member of Off-Farm Farmer’s Producer Organisation (OFPO), promoted by IGSSS to help and aggregate products from small scale producers like him. “We see OFPO as a solution to all our problems. It gives us bargaining power and is helping us to scale up our business”, says Yaqoob with confidence.