About Masuta MASUTA Producers Company Limited (herein referred to as Masuta) was registered on 26th December 2005 as a Producers

Company (S 581c (5) of Part IX A of the Companies Act 1956. Masuta was promoted by PRADAN, a national developmental organisation working on enhancing livelihood opportunities for the underprivileged across India. Masuta was formed with the objective of providing sustainable livelihood opportunities to poor women by bringing in new technology of reeling and spining tasar yarn from tropical tasar cocoons. Tasar yarn is traditionally extracted by the women in the handloom weavers households through a manual, laborious and inefficient process known as thigh reeling. No other community is involved in making the yarn. By introducing technology which requires a low skill (and consequently, scalable) and providing market linkages for the yarn produced, Masuta has created a new sustainable livelihood opportunity for the poor women. Masuta is registered as a producer company to empower the women producers to be the owners of their own enterprise. As at the end of March 2010, Masuta is owned by over 2500 producers. Presently, Masuta is the only women tasar yarn producers collective in India. It is governed by a group of selected producer-leaders who form the Board of Directors. It has also co-opted some development practitioners and subject experts to provide guidance to the company. Presently, Masuta has presence in the States of Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Bihar. Background Tasar, one of the wild silk accounts less than 5% of total silk production in India and India is the second largest producer of Tasar silk in the world after China. Though China produces only temperate tasar, India produces both tropical (the majority) as well as temperate (in subHimalayan regions) tasars. Tropical Tasar which is grown only in India is also known as Indian Tasar, its silkworm is reared on its host trees like Asan (Terminalia tomentosa), Arjuna (Terminalia arjuna) and Sal (Sorea sp.), available abundantly in the estimated 14.5 million hectares of tropical forests in the central Indian Plateau. In the past three decades, the demand for Silk in the domestic market has increased at the rate of 5% per year on real terms. However, the production of Tasar silk during the same period has gone down from 600 tonnes in 1970 to 302 tonnes in 2004-05 (source CSB). The overall demand for Tasar silk yarns far exceeds its supply in India. Hence India has to import nearly 900 to 1200 tons (more than 75% of total demand) of Tasar silk from China and Korea (all temperate Tasar) to meet its demand. The total value of Tasar fabric trade in India is estimated to be nearly Rs.450 crore. The domestic market accounts for nearly 60% of the total trade and the rest is export market. Traditional Tasar (Tropical Tasar) producing states in India are Jharkhand, Chattishgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, (part of) Bihar, (part of) West Bengal, (part of ) Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. This region is characterised by high tribal concentrations and believed to have wide forest cover with abundant availability of Tasar host plants like Asan and Arjuna trees. Over the years, the forest got depleted along with the

livelihood base for these forest dwellers. The rich forest soil got exposed and eroded, reducing the once forestlands into fallow undulating uplands. Thus agriculture has never become developed; still remain at subsistence level in this region. Majority of the rural population migrated to cities in search of jobs and the younger generation is confused about their future. About Pradan (The Promoting Organisation) PRADAN is a not-for-profit organization, registered as a Society in Delhi. It inducts potential professionals from the reputed institutes from all over India and abroad, grooms them through year-long structured in-field and off-field inputs and places them in small teams close to the community for grass-root actions. Presently PRADAN works with about 2 lac rural households benefiting about a million populations spread over 8 states of central India. Promotion of nurturing of Self Help Groups of women and Integrated Natural Resource Management are the core of our interventions. Among various sectoral interventions, Improved Agriculture, house-hold Dairy, poultry farming and Tasar Sericulture based livelihood activities are key activities. Extension of technology, innovation of need based technologies for the above interventions are always looked for by us to make the livelihood prototypes more robust and sustainable. The idea of establishing a totally producer owned institution was triggered by PRADAN. Presently, MASUTA is the only women tasar yarn producers collective in our country. PRADANs intervention starts with the formation of women Self Help Groups (SHGs) with savings and credit as their activity. By this way the dependence of such poorer families on the local moneylenders for small amount of credit get reduced. In the second stage, PRADAN and the women SHG members jointly explore for income enhancement activities for the women. Among various possibilities of existing or potential sub-sectors, the women and PRADAN professionals jointly decides in the livelihood activities. There are primary sectors like improved agriculture; household poultry, household dairy etc and its allied sector like tasar yarn making are some of such activities decided by the women. For details, please visit the website: www.pradan.net

Mission, Vision & Values As mentioned above, Masuta has been established with the dual purpose of providing livelihood opportunities to the women who are constrained for resources and also bring about

change in the society by allowing the women producers to take ownership of their organisation. This is reflected in the mission statement of Masuta which states. We create sustainable and perpetual livelihoods for resource-constrained women, augment their socio-economic status and affect change

Key words: Sustainable: We will continue to grow and serve the purposes for which it was established in spite of experiencing all sorts of stresses and constrains. Perpetual livelihoods: We will provide livelihoods to the producer members throughout the year on a continuous basis. Resource constrained women: Women who have limited opportunities to earn livelihoods because of lack of self-belief, confidence, skills, market opportunities or any other factors Socio-economic status: The way women are perceived in the society and their status in a hierarchical society. Affect change: We want to change the image of the member women in their society by providing them dignified income opportunity and ownership in their organisation and to become a model to be replicated across India, thereby bringing about economic prosperity in village communities and influence the mainstreams in favour of resource constrained rural women. Masutas Vision Vision lays down the Big Audacious Goal or Visualised Desired State that helps the institution define its future growth path. Masutas vision states, We will bring about change and set an example as a producer owned company

Numbers are always one of the very important factors to bring in changes, thus Masuta visualized to be owned by 10,000 rural women from 5 states generating on an average an individual additional annual income of Rs 20,000 by 2015. Masutas Values Respect towards women: Masuta believes in the potential, capacity and capabilities of women to patronize and govern their business organisation. Transparency: Masuta ensures that all relevant information regarding its operations and its key policies is open to all of its stakeholders Creativity: Masuta actively promotes creativity and innovation within the organisation. Staff and producers are encouraged to think of and share new ideas to improve. Ownership with responsibility: All the staff and producer members of Masuta are deeply involved in the activities and tasks assigned to them. They discharge their duties with admirable sense of responsibility and own the outcome. Fairness: Masuta strives to be fair in all its dealings with all the stakeholders. Excellence: Masutas employees and producer members strive to achieve excellence in all functional areas and this will be an on-going process.

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Products Pictorial views of different kind of yarns produced By MASUTA Producers Company Ltd. A Tussar silk yarn producers Company promoted By Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN)

1) Tussar silk spun yarn (Natural) [PTS#101(N)]

Physical characteristic Use for weft in hand loom & power loom 16-18 Ne is the count 2) Tussar silk spun yarn (Bleach) [PTS#102(B)]

Physical characteristic Use for weft in hand loom & power loom 16-18 Ne is the count Can be dyed with natural & chemical dyes

3) Tussar silk spun yarn (Natural) [PTS#103(N)]

Physical characteristic Use for weft in hand loom & power loom 15-16 Ne is the count 4) Tussar silk spun yarn (Natural) [PTS#104(N)]

Physical characteristic Use for weft in hand loom & power loom 16-18 Ne is the count Can be use as warp in hand loom 5) Tussar silk spun yarn (Semi Bleach) [PTS#105(W) (F)]

Physical characteristic Use for weft in hand loom & power loom Use for warp in hand loom 12-14 Ne is the count Can be dyed with natural & chemical dyes. 6) Tussar silk spun yarn (Natural coarser) [PTS#105(W)]

Physical characteristic Use for weft in hand loom & power loom 12-14 Ne is the count Can dye with natural & chemical dye 7) Tussar silk spun yarn (Dyed) [PTS#105(W)(D)]

Physical characteristic Use for weft in hand loom & power loom Use for warp in Hand loom 12-14 Ne is the count Can dye with natural & chemical dye 8) Tussar silk spun yarn (Matka) [PTS#105(M)

Physical characteristic Use for weft in hand loom 8-10 Ne is the count Can be use only in natural colour 9) Tussar Silk Reeled twisted yarn (Natural) [PTR#101(T)]

Yarn in the hank form

Yarn in the Cone form (2 ply yarn) Physical characteristic Use for warp & weft in hand loom Use for weft in power loom & high speed loom Can be dyed with natural & chemical dyes 70-80 denier is the count 10) Tussar Silk Reeled twisted yarn (Semi Bleach) [PTR#103(T)]

Yarn in the hank form

Yarn in cone form (2 ply yarn) Physical characteristic Use for warp & weft in hand loom Use for weft in power loom Can be dyed with natural & chemical dyes 70-80 denier is the count 11) Tussar Silk Reeled un-twisted yarn (Natural) [PTR#105(UT)]

Yarn in the hank form

Yarn in cone form (2 ply yarn) Physical characteristic Use for weft in hand loom & power loom Can be dyed with natural & chemical dyes 70-80 denier is the count Very good covering factor 12) Tussar Silk Reeled twisted yarn (Golden) [PTR#106(T)]

Yarn in the hank form

Yarn in Cone processing form (2 ply yarn) Physical characteristic Use for warp & weft in hand loom & Power loom Can dye with natural & chemical dye 70-80 denier is the count Natural look of raw Tussar 13) Tussar Silk Reeled un-twisted yarn (Golden) [PTR#106(UT)]

Yarn in the hank form

Yarn in Cone processing form (2 ply yarn) Physical characteristic Use for weft in hand loom & Power loom Can dye with natural & chemical dye 70-80 denier is the count Natural look of raw Tussar with good covering factor.

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Masutas Strengths Product variants: Masuta produces a number of yarn variants to meet a variety of market needs. This helps Masuta to cater to a wider cross section of clients and build relationships with them. Collaboration and support systems: Masuta has been able to collaborate with a number of institutions of national repute. For example, with C-DAC, Masuta is trying to work on technological solutions to standardise the process of cocoon purchase. Product quality: Masutas yarn is more pure than any of the tropical tasar yarn available in the market. This has helped it to build a strong brand based on quality of the product. Enabling Producer Company format: Being a producer company Masuta helps the poor members own the company without any constraints posed by the government as in other legal formats like cooperatives. Mobilizing resources: Masuta is assured of a regular supply of cocoons for the next 5 years since the cocoon production in the country is increasing, due to new plantations in the privately owned uplands are getting matured, new plantations are raised by PRADAN and various state governments. Masuta has created good rapport among the banks and donors thus is also able to mobilise adequate funds (loan and grant) to support the business. Back-up support of PRADAN: Knowledge, and mentor role of PRADAN and its co-opted directors adds value and credibility to Masuta. Well oriented members: Masuta gets its membership base from PRADAN. These members come through years of training on financial literacy and working on collective basis. This helps Masuta in grooming the producer members to take up more responsibility especially in the governance. Strategy statement: Masuta will serve resource constrained poor women members by providing perpetual and sustainable employment in tasar yarn production. Masuta will adopt the strategy of market penetration by saturating the areas where it has current membership base. Later it will also look for new areas to increase the membership base. Masuta shall develop systems to offer quick payments with built in incentives to the member producers thereby bringing in stability in production. Masuta will sell yarn to institutional and retail buyers with an increasing focus on institutional buyers over the next 5 years. It will adopt the strategy of geographic expansion by selling in new geographies. It will also modify the products to further improve the quality of existing products. Masuta will also explore the opportunities of economies of scope to develop new products to cater to new segments/buyers. Masuta will maintain product leadership by offering the best quality tropical tasar yarn in the country. home about us products producers contact us

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Producers For Kunti Devi of Gandhrakpur village in Dumka district of Jharkhand, reeling yarn from tasar cocoons has brought about a much better quality of life for her and her family. She no longer has to worry about feeding her children. She is now able to send her 15-year old daughter and 12-year old son to school and also provide them with private tuition. But far more importantly to her, Kunti Devi believes that reeling has brought new meaning and dignity to her life since she became a regular earning member contributing to the welfare of her family, all without leaving her home and village. Says she, I have learnt to earn and stand on my own feet. What more could I wish for? A hard life of labour has made Salkhi Devi look much older that her 40 years. She lives in the remote village of Junglepura Letwa in Banka district in Bihar, where the basics of modern life like paved roads and electricity, or for that matter adequate food, clothing and shelter, are still distant dreams. All this, however, has not stopped Salkhi Devi to successfully overcome poverty. She is a star producer of tasar yarn, earning more than Rs 18,000 a year from the occupation. For a woman who had never seen the world outside her village till she was 37, Salkhi Devi is today a frequent traveller, visiting many villages to train women and spread the message of reeling yarn to transform lives. All this would have seemed a distant dream to her even a few years ago, when this mother of three sons and three daughters struggled to feed her children. The land her husband Kailu Tanti cultivated was barely sufficient to feed the family for just a few months in a year. He migrated long for wage labour every year. They were ridden with debt and saw no way out of this life of poverty and misery. Salkhi Devi became a member of a SHG promoted by PRADAN. Peer support and credit from the SHG ensured that she managed little domestic crises like illnesses without getting further indebted to local moneylenders. Then came a big leap forward. PRADAN set up a tasar yarn reeling centre in the neighbouring village of Bhusiatari in Katoria block where Salkhi and other SHG members could find a way to earn regularly. A reeling centre was built with funds from the special SGSY project and reeling machines were bought for the women. The reeling centre was then registered as MBT and became a member of their company named MASUTA. Putting aside her initial hesitation, Salkhi Devi started to reel her way out of poverty. Today she is a proud workingwoman whose earnings contribute significantly and regularly to family coffers. If it were not for reeling yarn, I would still be struggling to make ends meet and would have never dreamt of a better future for my children, says Salkhi Devi. Salkhi Devi went to Raksha village in Bihar for her training. Says she, We learnt about the raw material (cocoons) and the reeling machine, learnt to improve our hand-eye coordination and understand quality parameters.

I would any day prefer reeling yarn in the centre than work as a farm labour or scavenge for firewood in the jungles, says Yalwa Devi of Phitkoria village in Dumka district in Jharkhand. For Salkhi Devi, working in the Centre is like going to office. She has the active support of her husband Kailu Tanti. Says Jaba Das of Gandhrakpur village of Dumka in Jharkhand, When I started working, I could extract yarn from only 50 cocoons in a day. Now I utilize more than 150 cocoons and earn about Rs 1,000 in a month. This income has transformed her family from being chronically poor to a situation when Jaba pays for private tuition for her daughter and son. Loans and mortgages are things of the past. I was always dependent on my husband. Today I earn regularly on my own. Making ends meet no longer means living in debt, says Kunti Devi of Gandhrakpur, working in the same centre as Jaba Das. For Salkhi Devi of Junglepura Letwa, reeling yarn is now a way of life. SHGs gave us hope against poverty and debt. Reeling has given us the opportunity to turn our hopes into reality, says Salkhi Devi. She has become an enthusiastic proponent and travels frequently to other villages to train other women. Sonia Devi in Sarua, Salkhi DeviJunglepara Letwa, Yalwa Devi in Phitkoria, Kunti Devi and Jaba Das in Gandhrakpur unanimously feel that their family and social standing has significantly improved. My husband now consults me on all matters, says Sonia. Yalwa Devis husband is proud of the fact that his wife travels to Deoghar on business. Jabas husband now helps her in household work. Salkhi Devis husband Kailu Tanti helps by de-husking paddy, a task traditionally forced upon the women. The increased respect at home is also reflected in the village and the community. The women reelers of Gandhrakpur in Dumka banded together to protest harassment by a local strongman. They took up the matter with the community and police. The strongman is now especially polite to them. Salkhi Devi probably sums it the best, The men in Junglepura Letwa no longer look down upon the women. How can they? We earn more than most of them and we are united.

Address of Registered Office and Branch Offices Barhi Unit Office : MASUTA PRODUCERS COMPANY LIMITED C/O AN Gaya Road Barhi 825 405 Hazaribagh District (Jharkhand) Phone (06543)-266284

Bhaglpur Marketing Office : MASUTA PRODUCERS COMPANY LIMITED C/O K.K. ans In front of voyuj Vidyalaya Radha Rani Sinha Road Adampur Bhagalpur 812 001 (Bihar) Phone (0641)-2404694, 09334482828 Dumka Unit Office : MASUTA PRODUCERS COMPANY LIMITED C/O AN Sarai Road Dumka 814 101(Jharkhand) Phone 09334112538 Godda Unit Office : MASUTA PRODUCERS COMPANY LIMITED C/O AN Behind Block Quarters Gandhi gar (In Front of ist Raja Health Centre) Godda 814133 (Jharkhand) Phone (06422) 222503, 09931538574 Gola Unit Office : MASUTA PRODUCERS COMPANY LIMITED C/O AN 1st Floor, 169, Co operative Colony Bokaro Steel City(Jharkhand) Phone 09234302723 Koderma Unit Office : MASUTA PRODUCERS COMPANY LIMITED C/O AN Devi Mandap Road Jhumri Telaiya District Koderma-825 409Jharkhand) Phone (06534) 22553 Raigarh Unit Office : MASUTA PRODUCERS COMPANY LIMITED C/O PRADAN Vinobha Nagar Boirdadar Chowk P.O. Boirdadar Raigarh 496 001(Chattisgarh) Phone (07762) - 325983

Partners Masuta is also actively pursuing various collaborations to gain competitive advantage these are mostly in the areas of technology, funding and market. The collaborators include: PRADAN - Masuta collaborates with PRADAN for producer enrolment and building linkages with government agencies. Association with PRADAN also helps the organisation in mobilising financial resources. NABARD Provides cheaper credit, innovation grants and capacity building supports. Central Silk Board CSB played a very crucial role during establishing Masuta by providing financial and technological supports. Eco-Tasar Eco- Tasar is a subsidiary of Masuta which manufactures fabric. By collaborating with Eco-Tasar Masuta is able to enter into more value addition. Villgrow - Villgrow is an organisation involved in incubating innovative technological solution to rural production systems. Masuta intends to bring in efficient technologies to improve the quality of the product and income to producers through Villgrow. C-DAC, IIT-Kharagpur Masuta is in touch with C-DAC (Kolkata) and IIT (Kharagpur) to understand the feasibility of developing a technology to do a more scientific quality assessment of cocoons, yarns and tasar eggs. Donors: Various donors like Rabo Foundation, RBS-Foundation-India help the yarn producers in building up their equity based. They help MASUTA in capacity building support to its staff and member producers. Various banks Masuta has built good rapport among various private sector banks like AXIS Bank, Development Credit Bank, ICICI bank, HDFC-Bank; public sector banks like Punjab National Bank, Indian Bank and financial institutions like IFMR Trust, OIKIO-Credit to leverage bulk credits. National Handloom Development Council: They purchase our yarns and promote tasar yarns (available in hank forms) among the handloom weavers. Various NGOs: Many NGOs has come up to work with handloom weavers, they have institutional collaboration (trade agreements) with Masuta to ensure supply of yarns to the weavers. Mumbai Chamber of Commerce: Help in policy advocacy in Masutas favour.