Asma Mistri and her husband Jalaludin live in Dakshin Barasat at South 24 Parganas in West Bangal. They earn their living from their home-based business doing zari embroidery on fabric. They are among the many who have suffered from the exclusion of the grid electricity in the village.
As the embroidery is intricate in nature, good lighting is a must for their business. Until recently, they had been working with the help of a tube light powered by lead-acid. But Jalaludin would need to make frequent trips to the charging centre far away from his house to recharge it. The batteries tended to be heavy and hence inconvenient to carry.
They were in dire need of an easier lighting solution.
Jalaludin happened to attend a solar electrification system awareness drive organised by ONergy, where he realised that this could solve their problem of lighting. Asma then took loan from Milaap through DCBS after paying a nominal downpayment. A solar home electrification system has now been installed in their house. With this, they can now run two solar lights for at least four hours a day and a small table fan.
They are now happier, able to work for longer, under better lighting. The business is doing better because of increased productivity. What’s more, they have just paid their first loan instalment!
