Mulpunja, Diamond Harbour, West Bengal
Women gather for literacy classes as part of the Mothers’ Literacy Programme in Mulpunja. Photo: Akshay Mahajan
In the village of Mulpunja, when the day’s labour is done and the zari threads are packed away, a quiet classroom begins to fill—not with children, but with their mothers.
The Mothers’ Literacy Programme, launched in 2022 and extended through 2024, is a bold intervention in a place where most women never had the chance to go to school. It’s a 90-day foundational course followed by a year-long support programme, designed to teach basic literacy, numeracy, health and hygiene, and financial skills. Run in partnership with Devisanthan, the programme was created not only to help mothers assist their daughters with schoolwork—but to offer women something of their own.
Each mother studies in a small group, often with neighbours or relatives. Some, like Reena Bibi, had once learned to read but had forgotten over time. “Now I can fill out forms at the bank,” she says. “I can help my daughter with her homework. I understand what the market papers say.”
Shampa Shamanto, a teacher with the programme since 2013, explains that every cycle begins and ends with a simple pre- and post-test, using the same questions. “It’s a way to track learning—but also to show the women just how far they’ve come,” she says.
Yasmina Bibi, whose daughter is eight, now takes the bus by herself and helps with Bengali-English translations. “I want her to study well, get a job, earn her own living,” she says with quiet pride. Then she adds with a smile, “Her father—he wants her to be a doctor.”
The women speak of ambitions that once felt out of reach—now suddenly thinkable. Reena wants her daughter to become a nurse. Others simply say: “We want more for them than what we had.”
Most of the women work 6–10 hours a day for private enterprises doing zari embroidery or textile finishing, earning around ₹200. And yet, once a week, they make the time to return to the classroom.
Rukhsana Bibi, who now teaches in the programme, was once a participant herself. “We got married young,” she says. “But now we won’t let our girls marry at that age. Not if we can help it.” She teaches both the mothers and the daughters, tracing the slow but powerful arc of change across generations.
The work is patient, persistent. “Our teachers put in so much effort,” one mother says. “They don’t give up, even when we want to.”
As another mother put it simply, “Now I can see what my daughter brings home in her school bag.”
[Story and Images Credit: Akshay Mahajan]