Women entrepreneurship has tremendous potential in the empowering of women. They just need an opportunity to shine and showcase their ability. The improvement and subsequent development of small scale industries and micro-enterprises in the country have led to significant increase in the income of the women. In addition to domestic responsibilities and childcare, women are also exploring with micro-enterprises.
Laxmi Bachha of Salebhata, Titlagarh was married to Nityananda Bachha, who’s a vegetable vendor in the village. Though there was no financial crunch, Laxmi decided to pass the extra time she had by engaging herself in any of the income generating activities. For that, she discussed with her husband about the business that was not being run in their village so that they can have more profit due to shortage in supply of the products. After due consideration & much contemplation, the husband-wife duo decided to start a paper plate and disposable glass business that can be used during feasts in their village.
Laxmi, then discussed with Sailabala Bagarti, who stayed next-door to her regarding loans for her business. Sailabala, being a client of Samparna (earlier Mahashakti Foundation) for past few years and a good experience with the company, referred Laxmi to approach the Titlagarh Branch of Samparna Business Correspondence Pvt. Ltd. for loan to start her enterprise.
Laxmi Bachha with her husband visited the branch of Samparna in Titlagarh to apply for a loan amount INR 35,000/- to start her business. The Branch Manager advised her to form a Joint Liability Group with a minimum of 5 members of her village who also need loan for their respective income generating activities and then contact with the Field Officer of the company who is being allotted for Salebhata village. After returning back, Laxmi discussed regarding the same with the women who stayed nearby. Interested women formed a group and called the Field Officer for documents pick-up.
The Field Officer of Samparna arrived and after proper verification of the documents, took them for credit bureau verification. After the credit report came, Compulsory Group Training was given to the group followed by Group Recognition Test by the Branch Manager & Cross Verification by the Credit Manager. The loan was then disbursed. Laxmi received a loan amount of INR 30,000/- in Oct 2019. Immediately, after receiving the loan along with some savings she had earlier, Laxmi started her business of paper plate factory.
With the money, she purchased two paper plate machines and also employed three very poor women of her village so that they can earn something to add to their husband’s income. Her sister-in-law, Puspalata Bachha, also joined her in the business, where she invested her savings. With the extra money, they purchased a semi-automatic disposable glass making machine. Together, they started doing great business, as it was the only plate factory in the village. They sold the plates at a profit of INR 12 per packet & glasses of INR 10 per packet. At the end of the month, she earned of a profit ranging from INR 8,000-10,000/-.
She had started saving INR 2000/- from her profit as a Recurring Deposit in the Union Bank of India. The family was leading comfortably and business was flourishing with each passing day, till the time Covid-19 pandemic hit India and the country went under complete lockdown. Her business was stopped for three months, but got restarted in July. Initial days were a bit struggle for Laxmi due to dent in the usage of paper plates, but now, things have become normal and she after the moratorium period also started repaying her loan instalments on time. The above story shows, women can emerge as winners given fair and equal chances in the society. They not only earn for themselves but also give employment opportunities to others. Needless to say, women are the strongest pillar of the family. They can support the household both emotionally and financially.
