DW BUREAU Playing the role of an enabler, Nabha Power Limited, which operates the 2x700MW Supercritical Thermal Power Plant at Rajpura, has helped a large number of rural women double their income even as the country struggled against challenges entailed by the COVID pandemic. Rural women working with five production centres supported by the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of Nabha Power to produce Phulkaris, jute products, Kurtis and face mask, worked from their homes during the COVID restrictions and managed to double their incomes. Chief Executive of Nabha Power Athar Shahab said, "Ever since we started working with the local communities, creating respectable sources of income for the rural women and youth have been the key focus areas of our CSR initiatives. Nabha Power supported the rural women by coming up with five production centres in different villages surrounding the plant. However, as the COVID restrictions posed a challenge, the CSR team evolved systems enabling the women to work from their homes by linking them directly with the markets." During this time, women worked with the local vendors ensuring a steady flow of orders and turned the trials into opportunities. As the demand for phulkari, face masks and Kurtis picked up even during the lockdown, the income for these women went up. Widow Baljinder Kaur from Sindhran village, who has been associated with the production centre at her native village for the last two years, said, "Before I started working with production centre, I along with my daughter in law Navpreet used to process maize crop and were paid Rs 2.5 per kg. We could not earn much. But after joining the production centre, we started earning a good income to sustain our family. During COVID, the income from making face masks and Kurtis has placed us in good stead." (editor@dailyworld.in)