"I had an awe-inspiring image about diamonds until I came to know that diamonds could be so small. I never thought I would be cutting them in shape. I can not express my joy when I first shaped a piece of diamond, says a tribal boy Kanhaiyalal Dhakhe who is one of 100 plus trainees employed by a multinational company Rosy Blue International in Pithampur unit in Dhar district. The trainees come from predominantly tribal districts - Dhar, Badwani and Jhabua where the Madhya Pradesh Rural Livelihoods Project (MPRLP) aided by the DFID has made interventions. The MPRLP has committed itself to creating sustainable livelihoods opportunities for the rural poor and thus help break the cycle of poverty.

Diamond cutting is an exciting career opportunities for children of poor families most of them belonging to tribal communities. Sunil of Ghusgao village in Badwani district passed eight standard and was working as conductor in a local taxi and poorly paid. His parents are farm workers. Diamond cutting is an extremely new experience for him. "It is good and will bring to me a status in the society at least in my village, he says adding that "I am learning gradually but many of my fellow trainees have learnt a lot". "We had to spend days and nights working in fields in villages and we had accepted it as our destiny. Diamond cutting would so easily come to us we never imagined, says Dilip Malviya who hails from Kherwas village in Badnawar of Dhar district.

Rail Singh Maurya of Sala village of Dhar district has a different view. "My life has changed. Had I not been selected as trainee, I would be working on daily wages to feed my large family. We have little land and hardly we cultivate it for want of sufficient water. My wife stays in the village with parents. Once I complete the training my life would no longer be the same".

I have learnt to shape the top and base of diamond. While working here, I have come to know a lot about diamonds, which I never saw. I never touched diamonds, but have learnt to shape them in perfect symmetry, informs Raju Chauhan who belongs to Botada village of Badwani district. "I do not have any land holding. I have responsibility of my grand mother and a sister. My mother also works on daily wage basis. I used to work for three days and attend schools for four days. It was a hard nut to crack to support my family. Suddenly I got this opportunity and joined the training. People say that you are in a big company, which has many branches around the world. I am sure I would no longer be jobless after this, he further adds. Others like Punamchand, Mahimaram Motilal, Rajesh Narganve, Ajab Singh Rathore are also enthusiastic about the training and no doubt diamonds would illuminate their lives.

The semi-skilled Sunil Baghel belonging to Indrapur village in Badwani was often moving out to seek work neighbouring state of Gujarat. He knows mason work and was always in search of small jobs. "I can guess that my dark days would come to a permanent end with my newly found job of diamond cutter after this training, he hopes.

"The districts of western Madhya Pradesh report high rate of migration due to absence of off-farm livelihoods. We have tried to focus on the young manpower, which could be potential migrants. We initiated dialogues with the industry. The famous Rosy Blue International joined hands and selected over 100 tribal boys from Badwani, Dhar and Jhabua districts for training in diamond cutting, informs Project Coordinator MPRLP Mr. Jitendra Agrawal. More industries like Eicher Tractor, Anant Spinning Mill have also shown interest to tap young rural manpower from poverty-affected areas, he further adds.

About the stipend and monthly honourarium, Mr. Natwarlal who is supervisor with the Rosy Blue informs that during year-long training, the Company gives Rs. 650 per month per trainee for six months while the MPRLP spends Rs. 1000 per trainee. The trained boys could be absorbed into the industry and be getting Rs. 5000 to 10,000 per month on performance basis. "It is for the first time when the company went deep into rural areas to select the workforce. It is a new experience for Company's Assistant Manager Personnel Rajiv Majoomdar. Extremely satisfying is to see them polishing their lives, he adds.