It was a Monday afternoon. And I was in Chandkheda, the neighborhood of the fastest growing metropolitan city of Gujarat, Ahmedabad. A field visit to this place always turns out to be a great experience, offering so much to learn.
I was here to check on the progress of Vidhya Mahila Mandal, and to meet their group leader Taraben Barot after they had borrowed a loan of Rs. 50,000 for developing their respective microenterprises.Â
When I stepped inside Taraben’s house, she was busy with one of her customers. She was showing her the latest stock of saris that she had bought. Taraben has been running the business of selling saris from her home for a year now. Due to poor financial conditions, she decided to start this business. On every sari that she sells, she earns a profit of anywhere between Rs. 25-50. She is able to save a sum of Rs. 2000 on a monthly basis.
Taraben’s son works in the Railways, whereas her husband is currently not involved in any sort of occupation. So Taraben is somehow trying to run her house with her and her son’s income. She plans to expand her business further, in order to improve her economic condition. The loan from Milaap helped her in buying a lot of stock.
Taraben with one of her regular customers
