While Santosh Vasuniya runs a shop of beauty products, Laxmi Wani runs a computer shop in village. Both of them carved a niche for themselves despite coming under pressure from all aspects of life. Their story will certainly inspire you.
Women’s Day Special Series: Some get success in life easily but for others, it comes through hard way. In this special series article, meet two women entrepreneurs from rural India who have penned inspirational success stories against all odds.
From Struggle to Success
Santosh Vasuniya hails from Jhabua, a small town in Madhya Pradesh, and saw the coronavirus pandemic unleash massive reverse migration in India from urban to rural areas. Amid the stunted employment opportunities and deepening economic inequities, Santosh did not take low-paying work for subsistence but found a way to build her own business. As she says, “I have faced many challenges in my life, but my story is one of hope.”
The 44-year-old aspired to run her own business even though there was no precedent in her family.
Speaking to India.com, she said, “My father died when I was only 4, leaving my mother to become a daily wage labourer and the sole breadwinner. I was able to study only until Class 10 only and then got married, and settled in Petlawad with my husband and two children.”
However, the thirst to be self-sufficient never left her, and she began to nurse the dream of opening her own shop of beauty products.
She said, “Luckily, I came in touch with Transform Rural India’s (TRI) Entrepreneurship Facilitation Hub team, and with their help, I managed to work towards opening my own enterprise.”
She invested her own savings of Rs 1 lakh and also received Rs 3.75 lakh as financial support under The Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP). She now owns a successful store dealing with refreshments, beauty products, cosmetics, etc. Today, she is earning not just for herself but for her family.
Inspiring Story of Laxmi Wani
Just like Santosh, the story of Laxmi Wani shows how much human potential exists in rural India. 30-year-old Lakshmi Wani is on a similar path to empowerment. She is a resident of Newali Bujurg village in Newali Block, Barwani, and belongs to the OBC community.
As is common in low-income rural families, Lakshmi studied only until Class 11 and got married early. As the wife of a daily wage worker and a mother of three children, she became aware of the urgent need for a second income.
She spoke to India.com and said, “I joined the engagement drive in Newali Bugurg village, organised by the Youth Hub team from TRI India, and discovered a passion for entrepreneurship. I knew the basics of computers and began to dream of running a Common Service Centre (CSC).”
The Youth Hub team then coordinated with the Rural Self Employment Training Institute (RSETI) in Barwani to enrol her for six days of a residential CSC ID training and certification course, and she is now running her own CSC business and has become an inspiration for other women in her village.
Talking about these success stories, Ranu Kumar Singh, Practitioner, of the Youth Initiative of Transform Rural India says “These stories of success accentuate the importance of grassroots NGOs and the need for hubs that provide financial literacy and training in entrepreneurship, market research, product development, and other relevant skills to help rural youth and women start their own businesses.”