Changing age old practices of caste based discrimination in a traditionally conservative Nepali society is not an easy task. Despite the political movements and the changes in the law prohibiting caste based discrimination, this is only on paper with the practice still existing all over Nepal, albeit in a lesser degree. This however is exactly what the Micro Enterprise Development Programme assisted agricultural and professional tools production factory has been able to do in Tukuche, Kavrepalanchowk; empowering the alleged lower caste "Biswakarma" community who traditionally worked as blacksmiths.

28 year old Raju BK of Ghimire Gaun in Kavrepalanchowk belonged to a family of nine including four brothers and three sisters. The BK's are one of the 14 BK families in Ghimire Gaun which has a total of 243 households, 200 of whom are "higher caste" Brahmins and Chettris. As the "lowest" in the social hierarchy the BK community was traditionally put to task at the houses of "upper caste" Brahmins and Chettris producing agricultural tools and other household metal utensils in exchange for just 3-4 Kgs of rice per person per year, a practice known as Baali. This, supplemented by the Rs 100 or so a day they made selling brass utensils in the cities was all the income they earned. Suffice to say this was hardly enough to feed BK families for even three months a year.

Although Raju dreamt of someday becoming a teacher, he quit school in 8th grade to help his father and brothers so his mother could get treated for cancer. Like the rest of his family members Raju had also learnt the art of working with metals from an early age but the traditional work and the added income from selling brass utensils weren’t enough to save Raju's mother.

All this started changing in 2000 when UNDP started the village development program teaching the poorest of the poor like the BKs of Ghimire Gaun their rights, how to raise their living status, and end the social discrimination. This alone however was inadequate to free them from the clutches of the vicious cycle of poverty. Desperate to end their suffering the BKs sought help with all and sundry. "It was only the clever ones who could get help, but this didn’t deter us. We wanted to change and were willing to work for it," recalls Raju.

When MEDEP came to the district in 2005 and inquired if anyone was interested in learning to become entrepreneurs Raju and his community who had organized themselves into the Guru Ganesh Community Forestry User Group, seized the opportunity. After undertaking a seven day long training program (TOPE/TOSE), the BK's were more than raring to start, their only obstacle was their poverty. "We are skilled in making metal tools. We have done that traditionally and don’t mind doing it. If we had machines to help us in our work we knew we could do well but we didn’t have the money to buy machines," says Raju. It was then that they formed the "Agriculture and Professional Tools Producing Factory" building a small shed overnight on a small piece of land owned by Raju. The 14 members of the group weren’t even allowed to get the bamboo from the local forest by the higher castes but this didn’t deter them; they went to another and bought the necessary bamboo for their shed building it overnight during the rainy season. When MEDEP officials saw the excitement among the BK's they realized this was an opportunity and agreed to help buy the group machines worth Rs 72500/-. "This is truly one of MEDEP's most successful and most inspirational projects. I feel proud that I have been involved with this from the very beginning" says MEDEP official, Uttam Dhungana who has seen the project take off.

The rest as they say is history. The factory today earns anywhere between Rs 120000 – Rs 200,000 a month producing and selling agricultural and household tools which the members sell as far off as Patan, Bhaktapur and Kathmandu. Work begins at 7AM going on till 8PM and is divided among the group. Each member gets a minimum of Rs 9000 a month. There is a modern toilet built in each of the 14 members houses as a sign of what they have together achieved. The group is now planning to upgrade the bamboo shed to a more stable one built on iron thrusts and with tin roofs. The group has managed to save Rs 65000 in two financial institutions in Banepa, which they use to buy stocks of metal. Raju alone has already managed to save Rs 30,000 which he says is for the future. They have plenty of work as orders keep coming from all around. Raju and his group is no longer demean themselves working for the "upper castes" for a little food. "We are still not allowed to enter their homes. But if they want our services we no longer to them, they come here to the factory, pay in cash and then get what they want" says Raju.