Alo Ghosh with her team members. Picture by Avijit Sarkar

Khoribari, Jan. 10: These women may not have found print columns dedicated to them like their counterparts who started the pickle or the Lijjat papad revolution, but in the remote border districts where poverty has an overwhelming presence, they are making waves with government help.

Alo Ghosh, wife of a vegetable seller, dreaded getting up from her bed every morning. What followed was a session of intensive calculation and planning on how to spend the minimal income her husband bought home in the best possible way.

That was three years ago. During this time, Alo changed from a housewife to a successful entrepreneur. “Three years ago, one of my friends told me that the government will be help us become self-dependent. The requirement was we had to form a group and engage in some economic activity. It was a golden chance and I decided not to miss it,” she recalls.

So 11 women, including herself, got together and put together a plan which would help her group avail of the government loan.

They managed to cross the first hurdle — the first screening test at the end of six months — during which the group members improved on their saving habit. Funds flowed in with the government releasing Rs 25,000, a part as loan and a part as subsidy. The group invested in four cows, starting a dairy business. The gamble paid off and the women milked money.

The success, courtesy the state government’s Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna, has given many others in this border village of Jotinagar hope to raise their heads above poverty and stride ahead.

“All I want is to give my daughters a good life after marriage,” adds Baby Sarkar, a member of the self-help group.

Yesterday, the group was given seven jersey cows worth Rs 1.62 lakh by the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad.

“We have had talks with Himul milk cooperative who have agreed to buy the milk from them,” said Kajol Bandyopadhyay, deputy director of the district rural development cell, SMP.

Yesterday was also a fruitful day for Saraswati Das of Kesar Doba village. As the leader of the 19-member Kesar Doba Rashi Shilpa Samity, she got a bank loan of Rs 50,000.

The concept of empowerment was a new way of rediscovering herself, says the lady. “With more money I will be able to expand the business further,” adds Das. In Siliguri subdivision, a total of 397 self-help groups are at work. Khoribari leads the list with 127, followed by Phansidewa’s 103, Matigara’s 85 and Naxalbari with 82.

“The scheme is meant to empower people below poverty line and help them fight poverty,” said SMP sabhadhipati Anil Saha.

Under the scheme, the groups are provided with rolling funds, a part of it comes as government subsidy and a part as bank loan. The only criterion is that the money must be utilised productively.

“The rates of interest charged by the banks are also nominal. The groups are also provided with training, expert guidance and help in capturing the market,” says Bandyopadhyay.

The women have engaged themselves in various smallscale businesses like book-binding, tailoring, dairy farming, poultry and pickle-making.

The taste of success has indeed been sweet for these once-powerless women.

“Earning money was good but the experience of steering a team towards success was even better. I did not know I could do it,” says Das.