Technology for the Advancement of Rural Areas (TARA), the commercial affiliate of Development Alternatives (DA) combines social objectives with business, and produces and markets technology products designed by DA or any other innovation source. It demonstrates the fact that technology and business innovations can be utilised to establish alternative economic opportunities in the deprived sections in rural and semi rural India.

TARA functions like a business whose earnings are used only in the furtherance and the upliftment of rural India – small and micro enterprises, self help groups, rural cooperatives, voluntary organisations, schools, and men and women from backward tribes. The bottom line is that TARA is and continues to play an active role in creating sustainable livelihoods in large numbers.

As a part of this endeavour, we have TARAgram, an over four-hectare campus in Orchha, in the drought-prone and backward Bundelkhand region of central India. Through the symbiotic relationship established with the communities we have reached out to 12 districts in the region. We have empowered women and built capacities to create more than 200 women self help groups (SHGs). Over a decade, the SHG Sahariya Sangram Samiti has been making hand-crafted paper and paper products as a means of generation of sustainable livelihoods.

A notable breakthrough achieved by TARA has been the recycling technology package, which makes it possible for largely untrained women to produce high quality handmade paper and products in a commercially sustainable manner, suitable for industrial applications. The pioneering TARA unit at TARAgram, Orchha (MP) engages more then 100 persons, including 70 women, directly in manufacturing paper.

More recently, a co-operative comprising 25 Sahariya tribal women was set up and the members have been trained to convert paper into paper products. The Sahariya Sangram Samiti has been able to achieve good quality office stationary products which are regularly supplied to HUDCO, Glaxo SmithKline Beecham, ATE Industries and Pepsi, various corporates, institutes, NGO’s, Government offices, etc. A Common Facility Centre is operational at TARAgram, where women are able to make paper and various other products.

The SHG group in TARAgram has made acid free paper and mount boards for conservation, and TARA supplies this to the National Mission for Manuscripts. The same paper is now distributed all over India to preserve manuscripts and paintings. Very few paper manufacturers make up to 2000 GSM, but TARA specialises in manufacturing from 80 GSM to 2000 GSM. State Archives have been placing steady orders for genuine and good quality paper and mount boards. q

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