Ashrai has been providing various types of support to the poor and Adibashi women of the Barind area by forming business clusters to engage in hand embroidery on garments, enabling them to increase product sales and achieve a sustainable, regular family income. Ashrai provided training and technical support to improve the quality of designs, fashion, product diversification, and market expansion through several projects funded by donors and PKSF. One hundred women entrepreneurs from one hundred business clusters have been trained in 25 unions of Mohonpur Upazila in Rajshahi district, and Chapai Nawabganj Sadar and Nachol Upazilas in Chapai Nawabganj district. Each business cluster consists of 30 members. They have been trained in embroidery on saris, three-piece sets, short Panjabis, Panjabis, Nakshikantha, cushion covers, and bed sheets. Thus, through appropriate training, about 3,000 women gained opportunities for self-employment. Ashrai has initiated the establishment of the Ashrai Crafts Centre to ensure the production and marketing of high-quality, fashionable products by skilled women for national and international markets.
