Ashwini Shelke currently resides at her maternal home in Osmanabad who has been juggling between her in-laws’ and parents’ houses due to an alcoholic spouse, since the past six years.

For economic independence, she decided to open a small Pan shop to support her family despite it being a male-dominated ‘untraditional’ livelihood. With a firm decision, she took help from her brother and attended Ekal Mahila Sanghatana- an organisation that supports women to gain economic independence. Now, she follows all the meeting and plans to claim property rights in her in-laws’ property. She is grateful to EMS who encouraged and inspired her to start her entrepreneurship journey and break the stereotypes associated with women.

The story of Lehro Devi is different from other women though the societal pressure remains the same. She is the mother of three girls and had to part ways with her husband as she couldn’t produce a boy. She changed the rules by allowing her husband to get married again and live happily with his new family.

She took charge of her family after her husband’s retirement and built her empire. She joined GVCS, took Skill-Development training and became a master trainer from an artisan. Now, she travels all over India in various exhibitions. She dedicated 10 years of her life to the craft and has created an indelible position in the organisation. GVCS provided her wings to fly high, and she also supported other women to rediscover themselves and become self-sufficient.

Sugdi Devi is a refugee who migrated from Sindh in Pakistan during partition and settled in a small village called Dhanau. She faced many obstacles, and also her husband’s income won’t suffice to educate her children. She wanted to make a change and resorted to her skill in traditional art. Soon under GVCS’s guidance, Sugdi Devi took Skill-Development training and was trained in hand-embroidery and applique. After the training, she became a master trainer, soon created her collection and walked on-ramp of success. She also attended Kaun Banega Crorepati Show. Under the guidance of GVCS, she has also imparted knowledge through specialized training and workshops to many women.

Vimalaben Dabhi, a mother of three, attended an awareness meeting by Utthan about the Biogas plant. She survived on 1 acre of landholding, with her family depended on agriculture and rear livestock of 5 cows and buffaloes.

Before biogas installment, collecting firewood and cooking was a lengthy process. In November 2019, the unit installation was started after the VDC approved her taking up the demonstration. She contributed Rs.10,000, and the project contribution of Rs.24,500 helped to install a 2 cubic meter plant in her field.

The unit produces 30 kgs per month, used as organic fertiliser, and led to better agricultural output. It also saves time and money for firewood collection. The opportunity cost of using LPG cylinders would have been Rs.4900/year for about 7 cylinders. Biogas installation helped her save cylinder and transportation cost. It is rightly said that one great opportunity can change the game. Utthan awareness meeting guided her to become self-reliant and independent to run her own business.

Lakshmiben Dabhi is a seasoned farmer, lives in a joint family situated in Kharakdi, District Bhavnagar and owns five bighas of land and is responsible for feeding eight members of her family.

She belongs to a community of small landholdings, relied on sharecropping and agricultural labour for their livelihoods.

She did non-farm occupations but could not meet her end needs. She finally decided to change and initially started vegetable farming with green chillies, eggplant, bottle gourd and land finger—faced difficulties due to unknown weather conditions and limited knowledge of cropping methods.

In April 2018, she attended a meeting organised by Utthan in her village. It caught her attention as the project emphasised using innovative methods and new techniques to uplift vegetable farming to greater heights. She volunteered as a demo partner and implemented the demo in 0.25 “bighas” of her land for the same. In August 2019, she participated in related training and got equipped to undertake bottle-gourd cultivation through the double-layered vegetation. Even the excess rains in August didn’t damage her crop as the bottle gourds remained all safe on the higher levels. The “Maandvaa” productivity touched 70 Kgs, and she netted INR 15000 in just two months. Usually, unseasonal rains in October 2019 were dreadful for local farmers, but Lakshmiben’s “Maandva” could withstand everything. Utthan provided her financial support of INR 6000, which helped to be part of this training. She is obliged to Utthan for this opportunity which enabled her to rise and shine.

51-year-old women situated in Yellapur city of Uttara Kannada District, backed her family and physically weak husband through her entrepreneurial spirit and the constant support of Supriya SHG. She started with nut cutting work but was earning meagre amount of money. She took a 50,000 loan from Supriya SHG, promoted by Manuvikasa, and begin her incense stick business. Manuvikasa later supported her by linking a 1 lakh loan from Syndicate bank through SHG for her paper plate business. Every month she uses five quintals paper reams by investing Rs. 5000 per quintals and earned a net profit of Rs. 1500 per quintal and now making Rs.7500 per month. She empowered herself and became capable of assisting her family with constant guidance and encouragement provided by SHG and EdelGive.

Living in Sirsi, Saraswati ran a tailoring business. She and her husband were struggling to make ends meet with three children. In 2019, Saraswati underwent a beautician training course imparted with the support of Manuvikasa and EdelGive Foundation, which helped her setup her own beauty parlour. She also gives tailoring classes to nearby ladies. Now she earns Rs. 10000-15000 per month. She has also purchased advanced machineries for her tailoring business and has improved the ambiance for her beauty parlour. With the right support, she was able to make a generous living for herself and support her family, bringing her confidence to live life on her own terms.

Growing up in suburban Mumbai, Sabah had a limited vision of her capabilities. With an Urdu medium schooling, she lacked the confidence of articulating her thoughts. Finding her way into Vacha when she was 10 was a turning point in her life. The Vacha volunteers, work with adolescent girls, by counselling them, training them, building their confidence, and driving them to realise their aspirations. Being exposed to them in her formative years, Sabah blossomed. Through their support Sabah is presently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance at MVM College, Mumbai. An aspiring accounts and economics lecturer, this is just the beginning of an exciting journey ahead.