Nippon Paint’s programme helps rural women become professional wall painters

Home repainting work, which until now was undertaken only by men in India, could soon be the forte of women as well. It could no doubt be a daunting task, but paint major Nippon Paint broke this myth by empowering unprivileged rural women to emerge as professional wall painters through its “nshakti” initiative.

Admitting that this initiative caught both (the company people and dealers) by surprise as it (the programme) was initially not intended for women, Mark Titus, General Manager, Marketing, Nippon Paint (India) recalled the run-up to this CSR project.

“We had an invite for doing up the painting works in a rural temple located at Sirudamur village near Thindivanam. Our team went there and apprised the rural folk about the company’s CSR project ‘nshakti’. About 40 women evinced interest in joining the programme. We selected 15 and put them through 17-day rigorous training at our PROceed Training Academy. This was only a pilot. Thirteeen women were certified as professional wall painters by the company last week. They have now decided to take up wall painting as a profession,” he said.

Sharing her training experience, Meenakshi, wife of an electrician in that village and mother of two, said that the training has imbibed confidence, and she is looking to take up her first job work soon. “There are four upcoming home repainting works in our village. The owners have indicated that they will entrust the work to us,” she said.

Sasikala, wife of a painter, said the training proved an eye-opener. “I never knew there was so much in it. Now, I am confident of helping my husband.”

Ponni Concessao, a leading architect has promised to extend support to these women by assigning some works to them.

Nippon has in the meanwhile urged its dealers to extend a line of credit to these women. The company is also in talks with bank in the vicinity for providing micro-finance support to the certified women painters. The company is in the process of enrolling more women for imparting such training. “The next batch would possibly be in Coimbatore,” said Titus.