By the end of the Trade Fair on November 27, Shobha Devi had become a celebrity among the 300 women entrepreneurs who had set up stalls at the Saras Mandap. Hailing from Jharkhand, she earned more than Rs 5.5 lakh in 14 days by selling 17 types of pickles, including her speciality, peepal leaf pickle, tur dal and wild honey.
The organisers of the Saras Aajeevika Mela said most of the 300 women, who are part of village Self-Help Groups (SHGs), earned upwards of one lakh each, making them a success story of the ambitious Lakhpati Didi Yojana. Shobha Devi also said that she helped 10 of her colleagues earn more than a lakh at the fair. Ten SHGs from Jharkhand participated in the Trade Fair this year.
Similarly, Anita, from Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh, who was honoured with the President’s Award, sold her entire stock of exquisitely embroidered Chamba handkerchiefs. Though she refused to divulge her earnings, officials said that she earned in excess of one lakh. Dry fruits trader Ajima B. from Ladakh notched up sales worth over Rs 1 lakh by the fourth day of the fair.
Bamboo products made by the Satlamthong Self Help Group from Nagaland did brisk business that helped the group’s members earn more than Rs 1 lakh each.
The lesser-known aspect about most of the women entrepreneurs who set up stalls at the Saras Mandap is that they used to work as labourers or unpaid farmhands before setting up SHGs under the Lakhpati Didi Yojana that has become one of the showpiece schemes of the Modi-led government.
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