Birma Devi animatedly described her ambitions for her two sons who have studied upto Inter and Matriculation respectively. She wants one of them to become a teacher, and the other a politician. Listening to her, it’s hard to believe that, just ten years ago, hers was a family where they had hardly enough food for even six months in a year. But, for 10,000 families in Jharkhand, and many more in neighboring states of Central India, the silent Tasar revolution has offered new hope.
The efforts of NGO Pradan (along with its sister organization, Masuta) now account for as much as 15% of India’s Tasar yarn production. Their vertically-integrated Tasar strategy covers everything from rearing (of tasar cocoons), to reeling (producing yarn from tasar cocoons), and finally, weaving.
Hari is one of the 12 farmers in Sadalpur village who took the step towards Tasar rearing after hearing from Pradan and others that he could earn upto Rs 15,000/- additional income. It was exhilarating to walk through the 70 acres of ‘netted’ greenery in this village where 65,000 ‘Arjuna’ plants host the Tasar cocoons. (The nets prevent damage to plants, and protect from birds of prey).

We next drove to nearby Raksha village where a group of 30 women have formed a ‘Mutual Benefit Trust’ (MBT) to produce tasar yarn, from the cocoons. This is where Birma Devi works. While she and other women are at work, their small children are looked after at an on-premise crèche. The kids even sang and danced for our benefit!
There are almost 2000 such yarn producers in all.

Madhabananda Ray, the Chief Executive of Masuta points out that this Pradan/Masuta model allows 53% of added-value to be retained by the actual producers, unlike the traditional model where only 25% was possible, after cocoon and finished-goods traders had taken away the lion’s share. Also, apart from the sheer quantity of jobs created, there is also the qualitative, social dimension – tasar offers a dignified job opportunity for marginalized groups like women and landless farmers without being exploitative.
The Tasar revolution can only be the beginning of something much bigger. If everyone has to earn a livelihood, NGOs like Pradan need to keep innovating. In Madhab’s words, “we need a Bell Labs of livelihood innovation”

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