Yearender 2024: Kashmiri Women Entrepreneurs Who Made A Mark This Year

ETV Bharat's Parvez ud Din highlights some successful Kashmiri women entrepreneurs who hogged the headlines in 2024 and were also praised by PM Narendra Modi.

Srinagar:The 2024 marks the major economic and social developments in the country, with many female entrepreneurs of Kashmir emerging as inspiring forces. They take help from various government schemes, which promote their business capacity. The purpose of the comprehensive programs is to provide support, training, and opportunities for businesswomen in the Union territory.

Sania Zahra, a 20-year-old businesswoman from the Balama area of Srinagar, has become Kashmir's first and only female beekeeper. She is emerging as a successful businesswoman by earning a good amount of quintal honey every year from her business. Sania has said that despite numerous challenges, she never despaired and continued her work diligently. Sania said that if her family had not supported her, it would have been difficult to continue.

Sania believes that being a woman in Kashmir is challenging because more people are discouraged rather than encouraged. However, she says the situation is changing gradually, and women are ironing out their abilities in different fields. Sania, known as the “Bee Queen of Kashmir,” had turned her passion into a thriving business, inspiring many along the way.

Another young businesswoman from Srinagar, Madiha Talat, has also inspired many as she makes use of lavender, apricot, and other natural resources to make soap, beauty products, and essential oils. She says that entrepreneurship is widely known as the most important path for women's economic empowerment and equality.

Batool Ijaz, who hails from Karachi, Pakistan, and is married to a Kashmiri man, is successfully running a restaurant in Srinagar, offering various cuisines, especially “Chapli kebab” of Pashtun origin. Because of this, she is known among people as ‘Chapli Kabab Didi.’.

“Kashmir has its own traditional and rich dishes, which no one can compete with. So I put my thing in front of them, which was a big challenge for me. But I did, and people love it,” she says.

Similarly, Iqra Nazir, a businesswoman from Baramulla, has launched an AI-based app, ‘Dawat Book,’ that promises to change the concept and process of fixing marriages in the valley.

After completing an IT degree and gaining experience in various companies, Iqra identified the need for a more effective way of wedding planning. “Due to my educational background, I could develop an innovative digital platform,” she says.

Women are also working side by side with men in the Valley of Kashmir and are not only highlighting their name in education, science and technology, art, literature, and sports. But now, as a successful businessman, the country's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, also spoke to a few successful female businessmen who are not only earning self-employment at the moment. Others have also been able to provide jobs, and among the lucky women who have the opportunity to talk to the Prime Minister, they have the Aihtisham Majid Butt, who is from Srinagar.

Aihtisham took up the profession of baking, and today her monthly income is nearly two million rupees. She has a diploma in food technology. She preferred to earn self-employment rather than a government job. Thus, she is earning a better and more dignified way but has also become worthy of employment to others.

Hameeda Banoo, who belongs to Ganderbal, also had the opportunity to meet with PM Modi and to join as a businesswoman. Hameeda runs a dairy farm under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). She first started it with just one cow, and today she makes a significant profit by supplying milk in many areas.

On the occasion, the PM appreciated the dedication and hard work of successful women these days and offered further cooperation from the government to expand the business.

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