ABOUT – Silence

ABOUT US

Silence owns a factory – a manufacturing entity where “Producers” are exclusively Silence in-house physically challenged artisan employees.
They are mostly deaf and voiceless, or physiologically handicapped and some of them are blind and also mentally ill.Though uneducated, yet they are the prime stakeholders and foremost concern – focus of Silence Fair Trade.

View their export products: See
OUR PRODUCTS…

Silence’s annual income is generated from the total
annual work raised and merchandized by the disabled
producer artisans, no external grant or donation
incurred. But Silence keeps no profit.

NOT-FOR-PROFIT

Out of total earnings, 95% is distributed among all physically and mentally challenged staff in forms of monthly salary and additional financial benefits like Provident Fund, Medical (ESI) and Travel Allowances, Festival Bonus, Exgratia, Gratuity, Pension, etc.

EXPORT

As principal feature, over the decades, Silence has been exporting handmade products of handicapped persons to USA, Canada, UK, Germany, Italy, Austria, France, Australia and New Zealand. A Silence Fair Trade Product thus symbolizes being manufactured and exported conforming all Fair Trade Quality Principles yet produced by disadvantaged persons. We are happy being able to impress all our universal customers and being esteemed and purchased globally!

THE CHALLENGE

85% of Silence staff are physically challenged. A critical side of Persons With Disabilities (PWD artisans of Silence) is that they are drop-outs of mainstream education since childhood being considered ‘functionally’ incompetent. Besides, being targets as disabled or poor, they are often humiliated.

NON-DISCRIMINATION

Silence is a Guaranteed Member of the World Fair
Trade Organization (WFTO) and as such, not only
Silence looks forward to women empowerment, but
indeed there is no discrimination, no cultural
contradiction, no child labour, and evidently perfect
transparency while participating with other
international Fair Trade Organizations.

GIFT SHOP

Silence owns a retail outlet in Kolkata (India). Domestic sale complements “rainy days” and overhead costs and affords overall budgets when at times Fair Trade merchandize cannot fully comply.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING

As a start for Socio-economic Rehabilitation, Silence Training
Institute (STI) is a branch of Silence where the physically or
mentally challenged are imparted vocational training.
Students thus qualified by university-accredited certificates
are offered job placements. However an adult student can
get absorbed as Silence employee.

REHABILITATION

In the Silence Training Institute (STI), differently- able students are offered University-curriculum training in traits like: Fine Arts, Commercial Art, Computer Graphic Design, Leather Craft, Silk Screen Printing, etc.
All courses are free of cost, yet the students are offered monthly stipend.
In very short time a novice becomes apt enough to hold office as a supportive individual.

Most often, STI pupils from very scanty background get
trained into alumni and into teachers. Indeed, as most
of these alumni or beneficiary instructors are
practically deaf and speechless, they communicate
better with the deaf and differently-able students…
a feather in our hat! All teachers are remunerated by
the concerned university.

VALUE ADDITION

Silence is a one-roof, single-unit producer organization bereft of component suppliers. Only raw material is purchased from open market, manufactured and exported. For any product development, price setting and price calculations, the Manager, the Marketing Persons, decide along with the concerned physically challenged producers/stakeholders.

ORGANOGRAM

For the Constitutional Activities, EC is the supreme authority comprising office bearers e.g. President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, etc. and they are elected from formal committee staged by beneficiaries during AGM. A number of beneficiaries selected as “members” participate in the AGM to pass all decisions and Annual Accounts. Any group of staff may directly contact the Secretary over any problem.

HISTORY

Silence was born not out of compassion or pity. It began as a collective effort of a small cluster of deaf artists in search of income to meet both ends – deaf amateurs, making individually hand painted greeting cards and selling those in public to fend for living – arrested attention of a young Geologist committed to social well-being and experienced in social action…

With this geologist as nucleus, and with a mission that
Physically Challenged persons must have Socio-Economic
Rehabilitation, SILENCE crystallized and came into being
in the year April 1979. Today Silence has evolved into an
extensive shape consisting state-of-the-art facilities
comprising: The Workshop, Retail Shop, Head Office and
the Silence Training Institute (STI).

1996-97

Award of Excellence from the Federation Of Small and Medium Industries (FOSMI) for Export Performance and Growth, working with Physically Challenged Craft-Persons

2001-02

Helen Keller Award as Best Employer in Disabled Sector, Awarded by NCDEP (National Center for Promotion of Employment for the Disabled People)

2003-04

National Award for Institutional Category

2004-05

State Award (Govt. of West Bengal) for Service to the Physically Challenged

2005-06

Best Organization Award by Forum of Physically Challenged Persons of State

2008-09

Best Employer of the State Award for the Physically Challenged

2009-10

National Award as the Best Placement Officer of India for the Physically Challenged