Our Centres
Since 2015, over 2000 women hailing from the marginalized neighborhoods have enabled their potential by breaking out of patterns of disparity. With 7 active Training Centers, we are partaking in building resilient communities across Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Gujarat.
Our Centres
Since 2015, over 2000 women hailing from the marginalized neighborhoods have enabled their potential by breaking out of patterns of disparity. With 18 Active Training Centres. Across Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu.
Madhya Pradesh
In the central province of India lies the state of Madhya Pradesh. MasterG is all set to begin a training program, in partnership with Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation and sponsored by Paramount Wires and Cables Limited. The goal is to transform a silai centre into an All-Women Ecosystem where women learn pattern making and are equipped to become the future leaders. It is situated at Gramothan Resource Centre, Khargone, Village Jamnaya, outside the city of Indore.
Haryana
In the state of Haryana, our skill development centre lies in the village of Gwal Pahari, a part of mesmerising Aravali forest area where you can find macaques lazing around. It is one of the hotspots for governments’ waste-to-energy projects. One of our most dynamic training programs runs in partnership with the real estate company ASF Group. It is a home to the students arriving from surrounding villages like Dhani, New Gwal Pahari, Old Gwal Pahari, Maandi, Bandhwari andJawnapur.
Uttar Pradesh
In the state of Uttar Pradesh, the MasterG skill development centre is situated in the village of Khurja. Also known as ‘the ceramic town’, Khurja’s pottery history dates back to almost 600 years. In partnership with Sleepwell Foundation, the program nurtures students to learn all about pattern making and breaking exploitative patterns. The centre greets students from the main city, and the villages of Mirpur, Nagla Shekhu, Rashulpur, Mundakhera, Rohinda, Hazratpur Pudhari, Rukanpur, Kyoli Khurd and Kamalapur. Amidst the testing times of pandemic, Khurja centre saw it’s the first batch of students graduating.
Delhi
In the capital city of Delhi, our centres are at Tughlaqabad and Tigri. In partnership with Fena Foundation and Adharshila Trust, the centre greets students from Tughlaqabad village, Tughlaqabad, Ashram, Sangam vihar, Harkeshnagar and Govind Puri. At our Fena – Adharshila centre for skill development in Tigri, students arrive from Sangam vihar, Paladpur, Dakshin puri, Madangir, Devli, Zaitpur, Kaya maya and Chattarpur.
Gujarat
One of our youngest centres is in the colourful state of Gujarat. Our centre in Vadinar runs in partnership with NGO partner, BAIF Institute for Sustainable Livelihoods and Development and CSR partner Nayara Energy. Situated at Nayara Energy Centre, we are in the first year of training and have 85 students at the centre who hail from Vadinar, Bharana, Timbdi and Singach villages.
West Bengal
In collaboration with Twirl Store’s fantastic circular model, our training in Kolkata, West Bengal upskills the existing workforce of women at the unit through pattern making and designing skills. We help make the operations more efficient to enable them to compete in the international market. The training focuses on accessories, products of home decor etc., along with making a catalogue of products made with upcycled fabrics. The centre came into existence with the immense support of Circular Apparel Innovation Factory, an Intellecap Initiative, the advisory arm of the Aavishkar Group and Laudes Foundation, who funded the training program.
Our Petition
To have minimum 1 female pattern maker per garment factory or fashion house in India.
37, 497 have signed. Let’s get to 50,000!
The industry acknowledges roughly 1 pattern maker to every 300 stitchers. Women are confined to silai machines and estranged from the power to make their own decisions and use their creativity. Without any women pattern makers as role models, women have not been able to claim any dignified space at their place of work, in their homes, or even in their communities. The absence of livelihood or job opportunities discourages them from learning the skill. Break the pattern of exclusion and welcome women pattern makers in the industry.
Swara Bhaskar and television personalities like Ambika Anand who is also a fashion consultant have responded to the petition.
Sign our petition to show solidarity with us!
Success Stories
Fena-Adharshila Centre for Skill Development, Tigri and Tughlaqabad, Delhi
Anushka Bansiwal (Job Holder)
Anushka is a multi-talented exuberant girl, who has seen the harsh side of life from close quarters. She has one elder sister and two younger brothers who have always supported each other as much as they can. Anushka’s father seems subdued however he is an alcoholic and physical abuse became an integral part of Anushka’s growing up years. Her mother, a homemaker, was compelled to become a vegetable vendor to support the family when alcoholism led her father to shun his responsibilities towards the family.
This scenario made Anushka determined to lead a life less ordinary and she decided to learn to be a seamstress, initially from a friend in the vicinity and then professionally through the MasterG initiative of Adharshila.
Anushka wanted to excel in her craft and she did. Today, she has a regular paying job as a pattern maker in an export house with a monthly salary of Rs.12,000/-per month and she tutors young girls in her vicinity for a fees of Rs.500-700/-per month. Anushka’s enterprise did not end there, she showcased her talent on video sharing app “TikTok” was even spotted by the famous designer Neeta Lulla’s fashion house and was offered a position at their Hyderabad unit. However, being a woman in the man’s world is not easy and she had to let go of the opportunity for the sake of her family and infant.
Life is full of hits and misses, hope Anushka is bestowed with success in her future endeavors and she achieves her full potential. Actually, with her indomitable spirit it is just a matter of time when she will turn the tide in her favor.
Jaishree (Entrepreneur)
Jaishree joined MasterG in 2017 to learn basic stitching and then started enjoying the creative satisfaction which playing with the fabrics gave her.
She faced opposition from her family when she expressed a desire to pursue advanced level, however, Jaishree did not bow down and instead of breaking the rules, bent them a bit by emotionally blackmailing her family into allowing her willingly to pursue her vocation further.
It was not just stitching that Jaishree learnt during her stint with MasterG, she learnt the basic etiquette and her personality also evolved from a reticent, underconfident girl to a dynamic and strong-willed pattern maker. She did her internship for four months and then got absorbed in the industry soon enough.
During the COVID-19 pandemic she exhibited her workaholic side by working round the clock in making masks for mass distribution. In fact, within two weeks she earned almost Rs.16000/- which is commendable for someone whose monthly salary is Rs.16000/-.
Jaishree is an inspiration to all the girls who want to break the myth that pattern makers can only be males. She has worked her way into a male-dominated field with sheer commitment and focus.
Finally, in her own words, “Respect and faith is all a girl needs to become an achiever beyond imagination.” And we agree.
Sanjana
I joined a 3-month long MasterG course. I was equally nervous and excited when I drafted my first ever pattern. After completing the course, I could observe the improvement in my work and hence started taking orders from home. I am unable to express the joy I feel when I receive the payments for my hard work. Joining the MasterG course was the best decision I ever made.
Sadaf Ziya (Job Holder)
Sadaf is one of our youngest makers at our all women factory. She migrated to Delhi 4 years ago to pursue her higher education, and joined the MasterG training program at our partner NGO centre at Adharshila Trust in Tigri, on her mother’s advice. When she is not making garments or patterns at MasterG, she loves reading and sketching.
Kahkeshan Alvi (Job Holder)
Kahkeshan is a 19 year old maker at our factory. She is one of the finest and most precise curriculum designers we have. She came to know about the training program through a friend while returning from school and joined the program immediately. After completing her course at our centre with Adharshila Trust, Tigri in 2018, she joined the all women team at the factory. She dreams of travelling the world one day and has a keen interest in the Arabic language and spends most of her free time learning it.
Rajni Maurya (Job Holder)
Our prodigy child, Rajni is an epitome of relentlessness and virtuosity of work ethic. Starting her journey as a student at the Tigri centre, she soon became a merchandiser with industry standard earnings. Her journey has been a conventional progression of success in the field of apparel making and still been unique. She went from being a maker to GScore assessor at MasterG. Another beautiful feather in her adorned hat has been, making custom made clothing for Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of Acumen Fund.
Chanchal Maurya (Job Holder)
Chanchal is a strong-willed girl who had to quit studies after her father’s demise.
Her dream of pursuing higher studies in Science stream was nipped in the bud by destiny. Still, she mustered up all her strength and decided to become an earning member of her family. Chanchal got to know about the MasterG program through her friends who were already a part of the course. Before coming to the center Chanchal did not know even basic stitching but she was determined enough to work hard and trained at MasterG for a year to take it up professionally. Chanchal proved that “industry is the key to success” and learnt stitching which she abhorred. Now, Chanchal has started earning an income of Rs 10,000/-per month independently by working for an organization “Women-Fiber to Fashion” as a center coordinator.
The organization works for sexual and physical abuse victims. Chanchal motivates these girls who come to the organization and works with empathy and enthusiasm. Chanchal shows us that dark phases can pose hurdles in life but to overcome them is totally based on our attitude towards the hurdles.
She overcame her hardships and became the beacon of light to many others who were trying to come out of the darkness. Chanchal believes that given a chance any girl can convert it into an opportunity for a lifetime.
Mamta (Job Holder)
I was enrolled in a 1-year MasterG training course. Along with acquiring various skills and techniques of pattern making, I attained an enormous amount of self-belief and self-confidence through this training. After completing the course, I earned an opportunity to do an internship at MasterG Okhla studio, wherein through practice I attained finishing in my work. Today, I have a respectable job working at Pee Empro Exports Private Limited, and earning 9500 Rs/month, I am able to contribute to my family income. I am able to educate my younger sisters and want them to go for higher studies. My parents are extremely happy seeing my progress.
Sunita
We’ve all seen and normalized the fact that the pattern makers in our fashion industry are mostly or all men. Women are employed only for meagre work and income like stitching a button or opening up a stitch. When I heard about MasterG, I immediately knew that this is an attempt that’ll make women in our society independent and self-reliant. My dream is to empower women as I was once. I want to teach all that I’ve learnt in MasterG to more and more girls and make them stand on their own feet. I want to make them aware of the MasterG course and encourage them to join the same
Aasmeen Alvi (Job Holder)
Aasmeen is known for her rebellious and jovial attitude towards life. When her parents did not allow her to go and pursue her passion for design, Asmeen refused to eat and talk to them. Her parents had to give up. She finally joined the course and is now interning at the factory. Asmeen starts her backpacking expedition at 7 AM from Badarpur and joins her team at 9.30 AM to begin work. She has become a part of the curriculum designing team at MasterG and a maker.
Rizwana Bano (Job Holder)
Rizwana entered MasterG as a student in our Fena-Adharshila Centre for Skill Development, Tughlaqabad. After working hard and acing in her batch, she graduated the breaking patterns training program with flying colours. As a student she used to entertain individual orders from home and refined her quality of work with each order, one cut, one stitch at a time. Right infront of our eyes, she became an industry standard pattern maker earning a prescribed salary, also working as a sample maker at HEIMAT. Today, Rizwana is a Master trainer for our students at Nayara Mahila Sashaktikaran Kendra, Vadinar, Gujarat and she also helps train new trainers joining our ecosystems.
Nisha
Our most enthusiastic Studio interns, Nisha. She has been coming to our Okhla factory from Tigri since June 2019. Although she had a keen interest in tailoring, her parents motivated her for formal education in arts from Delhi University. She was introduced to our training course whilst in college by her neighbour, Sadhna. Seeing the space occupied by women pattern makers, Nisha sought inspiration to recondition her life. Since she has joined our team, Nisha continues to flame her curiosity to learn more and has never looked back.
MasterG Skill Development Centre, Gwal Pahari, Haryana
Anju
My name is Anju. I live in Gwal Pahari. I had completed my studies and was whiling away my time sitting at home for 3 months. One of my friends told me about the MasterG fashion designing course. I visited the center, met Santosh ma’am and got more information regarding the course and the curriculum. I immediately resolved to join MasterG Classes. For me fashion designing is all about making the best use of one’s creative self and skills. It is something you can learn at any age. I was a regular to the classes and learnt so much about stitching, pattern making & designing etc. Today, I am financially independent and feel like I can achieve anything I set my mind to.
Jyoti (Entrepreneur)
My name is Jyoti, and I used to look at the fashion industry as an unachievable dream. All I ever wanted in life was to design beautiful dresses. My family was very supportive of my choices and guided me in my journey of becoming a pattern maker. After completing the MasterG course, Santosh Ma’am directed towards me some orders of stitching haryanvi chunni from Jonapur. I stitched these chunniyan from home, and have started earning 7000 – 8000 Rs/ month. I am grateful to MasterG for making me financially independent. It’s the best feeling one can have.
Deepansha (Job Holder)
My name is Deepansha. I hail from the village of Gwal Pahari. I joined the MasterG training course to learn pattern making and achieve perfection in my finishing. After joining masterG, I first used to work for home-based orders and was able to earn Rs. 2000-3000 per month. MasterG has now provided me with a job at Dhuri. I will now be able to fulfill my dream of becoming financially independent.
Preeti
My name is Preeti and I am 28 years old. I completed my graduation in Bachelors of Arts in 2014 and was married off. After 3-years of marriage, I left my in-laws house out of mental frustrations caused by them. My father introduced me to MasterG and enrolled me in the course. I am eternally thankful to him for giving me hope and changing my entire life trajectory. I regained my confidence as I got trained in the course. I learnt all about pattern paper, and how we draw and cut the pattern on a paper before doing the same on a fabric. MasterG course tended not only to the tangible skills but to our spoken english and Hindi and acquiring a professional attitude. The most interesting thing that I learned in the course was how to make multiple patterns and breaking the pattern to do so.
Madhu (Job Holder)
I got to know about the MasterG course in 2016, while I was enrolled in ITI (Industrial Training Institute). I learnt so much about stitching, pattern making once I joined the MasterG course. I soon got an internship offer at MasterG, as I was praised for my pattern making skills and finishing. I worked with some high-end brands during my internship period. MasterG also provided me with a job at a brand named Dressfolk. I now make patterns, stitch and live my dream.
Manju
Manju is one of our most experienced and enthusiastic makers, and has had a unique journey of achieving self-sufficiency. After successfully completing her training, she is now an active part of the MasterG factory where we hire our alumni from various training centres. Today Manju is not only financially stable but also emotionally strong. She continues to inspire women to step out of conservative mindsets and strive for their independence.
Nayara Mahila Sashaktikaran Kendra, Vadinar, Gujarat
Sheetalben Mansukh Bhai Rathod
My name is Sheetalben Mansukh Bhai Rathod. I hail from an agricultural background, belonging to a farmers’ family in Singach. In our society, not much attention is given to the need for a girl’s education. Yet, I could join MasterG training because of my father, and his wish for me to fulfill my dream of becoming a fashion designer. It was no less than a golden opportunity for me. I came in with absolutely no knowledge of the skills and techniques required for becoming a pattern maker. My life changed drastically. My first ever stitch and pattern was at MasterG. I used to work on the farm, helping out my parents and then reach the MasterG training centre. After completing my training hours, I went to the farm again to finish the pending. I used to practice whatever was taught, in the little time I used to get at night. I wanted to attain perfection in my techniques. This has been the biggest achievement for me & my family.
Ruksanaben Talabbhai Bhagad
My name is Ruksanaben Talabbhai Bhagad. For others this is my success story but to me it was the ultimate turn my life took. I am a housewife. I have two sons, a 6 years old and a 1 and a half years old. My husband is a fisherman. My biggest obstacle in life was being uneducated. I joined a MasterG course to acquire some skills to be able to earn a livelihood. Before joining this training, I didn’t have any idea about the number of tools used and how to use them. Taking this MasterG training changed my life by providing me with an immense amount of skill sets. I didn’t even know how to use a measuring tape and used to cut by taking measurements by my fingers or by putting a size of cloth up on the fabric. After joining, I learnt all the little things and wish to learn more from this training to make my passion, my biggest achievement in life. After completing the training, I want to join the production unit and contribute to my family, financially.
Muskan Amad Fakir
My name is Muskan Amad Fakir. I have received formal education up till 12th Standard. I am the eldest of the 5 sisters. My mother is a housewife and my father owns a condiments’ shop. My mother suggested that I join the 3-month free-of-cost training at MasterG with BISLD-BAIF. I went in with no knowledge of a stitching machine and came out a confident pattern maker with experience in quality work. This training made me learn a lot of new things and entertain new ideas. I am continuing MasterG training and also working in the production unit. I work hard each day to be independent. I want to attain perfection in my cutting, stitching, pattern making and in taking measurements of any fabric. By completing my MasterG training, I want to become a Fashion Designer.
Sleepwell Foundation – MasterG Skill Development Centre, Khurja, Uttar Pradesh
Farah Pawar
My name is Farah Pawar. I am currently enrolled in the MasterG training centre at Khurja which is in association with Sleepwell Foundation. I live in a family of six. I have completed my studies till 12th standard. I joined this course to become independent and attain my own identity. I have gained self-confidence to earn my living and live by my own rules, after joining this course. I got to know about this course from one of my cousins, when she took me to a fashion show conducted by the centre. Initially I only had my mother’s support, but gradually gained all my family’s.
Poonam
I am Poonam. I am currently enrolled in the MasterG Skill Development Centre, Khurja which is in association with Sleepwell Foundation. I am from Hazratpur Puthari and live in a family of seven. I completed my studies from Public Inter College. I was fond of stitching and the course enabled me to learn even more about garment making. I have learnt so much here, from pattern making, pattern cutting to finishing. I got to know about this course through one of the centre’s staff. There’s much to learn here about various tools etc. My family is rejoiced when they see the garments made by me.
Vivek
My name is Vivek. I am currently enrolled in the MasterG training program at the Khurja centre. I have studied till 8th standard. There are four members in my family. I joined this course to ensure a bright future for myself. I have learnt so much about stitching, pattern making since joining this course and feel confident about my finishing. This course has prepared me to one day earn my own living and support my parents who provide me with their complete support.