Meenakshi Balu: Empowering women and disabled

23 January 2021: More than as a business person, I am a social worker and my aim is to up-skill people with multiple disabilities. I have imparted vocational training to school girls, physically challenged and to visually challenged on the art of binding. I am also keen and active in empowering women and impart them skills so that they take up employment or become proud owner of their business.

Armed with my MBA, M.L (Master of Law) degrees, I ventured into printing and publishing 2010 and publishing books on stotras, vedas, mantras, poojas, education, and edited more than books with over 500 titles. My publications are well known for Sanskrit to English transliteration.

I learnt the aspect of screen printing from DMI institute of Grafica and from my own staff Balaji. I consider him as my first inspiration into screen printing. Since then I decided to teach one and all, the aspects of screen printing especially to the physically challenged. This skill is a unique and profitable business and easy to start from home itself, without much investments. However, as printing is a creative activity and there are challenges on technical front to achieve the same specs.

I have set up a modern printing unit-cum-training centre (around 4,800 sq. ft.) with all infrastructure facilities in SIDCO Women Industrial Park at Thirumullaivoyal in Tiruvallur District, near Chennai. It is a plot allotted to me under WEDP – Women Empowerment & Development Programme by Tamilnadu Govt. The training centre is being set up to offer free training facilities for the disabled especially physically challenged.

My factory houses Screen printing, Single and Double demy Heidelberg machine (single colour), Colt baby offset machine, Wellbound perfect binding machine, Folding machine, exposing units, dark room for exposing negative making process, pinning machines, cutting machines, among many other facilities.

We offer printing products like t-shirt printing, visiting cards in screen, screen printing on rubber tubes, letter pads, mug printing, on bedsheets covers, gift articles, stationary etc. Apart from being a publisher publishing her own books, few of my top customers are GIRI, IOB, SS Industries, UE Press Tools, Lakshmi Industries, etc.

My vision is to conduct training in different skills, in and around our industrial estate as there are around 20 villages nearby who can get benefitted and can seek employment or become self -employed.

I have planned for skill development programme in my factory training centre which has 30 to 50 seating capacity. Our printing unit and skill training centre can be viewed at www.superpritingpress.com