Success Stories

Kantuben Ravidasbhai Kotwalia, a 38-year-old resident of Patharda village, located 3 km from Ukai town in the Tapi district of South Gujarat, is becoming a role model for the Kotwaliya community. Her family of seven includes two grandmothers, three children, and a middle-aged couple. Traditionally, she and her family were engaged in making bamboo baskets, which they supplied to a middleman who collected them weekly from their doorstep. Her husband, Ravidasbhai, was also involved in this trade, exchanging bamboo baskets for grain or cash from traders. 

When CIBART, under the SFURTI Project funded by MSME, offered training in bamboo furniture-making, Ravidasbhai allowed Kantuben to participate, as this was a new and potentially more lucrative skill compared to traditional basket-making.

Kantuben attended the bamboo furniture training organized by CIBART at the Ukai Training Centre, where she developed remarkable skills. After completing the training, she joined the CIBART Production Centre in Ukai as a full-time craft worker. She honed her skills in creating various bamboo-based furniture products and significantly contributed to fulfilling orders. Over time, she also learned how to teach bamboo furniture-making to other women in the community.

Today, Kantuben earns a stable income of Rs. 7,500 per month and has a bank account with a nationalized bank. Reflecting on her journey, she said, “Bamboo baskets managed our household expenses, but savings and investments were nearly impossible with irregular incomes. This kind of financial literacy would have never developed, if we had not joined the SFURTI Project. With three days of wandering in the jungle for raw materials, three days of preparatory work, and two days of making the baskets, we could produce 50 baskets in a group of 5–6 working members like me. Each basket fetched us 8–10 rupees through a trader, which was insufficient to support the family. The social change post-financial stability is immeasurable. Now I have credit in society.”

Kantuben now also plays an important role as a trainer, taking on assignments to train Kotwaliya women from nearby villages in bamboo furniture and other bamboo handicraft products. Under the SFURTI Project, she trained 15 women from Sisor village, located 15 km from her home, in bamboo furniture.