Purnia (Bihar): Women entrepreneurs of India are scripting their own story in today's dynamic era. Be it agriculture, commerce, fashion, travelling, investing and anything for that matter, women of today are moving with great zeal and initiative to bring a change with their new ideas and generate employment for many. Let's meet Jeevika Didi group from Purnia who are breaking grounds with their business and setting a benchmark in their respective chosen field.
After suffering a major setback from a devastating flood in Purnia, women from Purnia in Bihar chose not to give up and choose a path to make themselves self-reliant. Women of Livelihood Association in Purnima called Adarsh Jeevika have started mulberry cultivation followed by preparing cocoons and silk threads which received wide appreciation. Writing their own success stories, these ambitious women have now started selling silk sarees made from the cocoon as the sale of mulberry did not fetch them profit. Scattered in villages like Amari, Nandagram and Kishanpur Baluya of Dhamdaha block, these determined and women have an aspiring story to tell.
Their happiness knew no bound when Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised their work on his 'Maan Ki Baat' program.
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While interacting with ETV Bharat, Jeevika Didi group narrated their entire story that how they started their journey in Amari village and got associated with Malabari women producers group.
''We used to work hard day and night for the production of mulberry but the selling of cocoons to intermediaries did not give us the demanded price. We came up with a different idea to make more money by started selling silk sarees made from dried cocoons. We displayed our products at Saras Mela in Patna and it was then when we earned a huge profit. It was after this fair that the demand and consumption of our silk sarees started escalating in different states. This initiative has also lent a helping hand to unemployed women who aim to become self-reliant'', said the group.
Associated with the mulberry livelihood group, pioneering women said, ''Preparing cocoons from silkworms requires tremendous hard work. Despite working hard, our buyers would just take it for a few pennies. So, we took the decision to join the Adarsh Jeevika Mulberry women producer group. After some time, our sarees found a huge market in Murshidabad, Bishunpur in Bengal, Nathnagar in Bhagalpur and Amarpur of Banka''.
Seeing the huge success of Jeevika group, 700 women of Dhamdaha block have joined the group. At present, silk sarees are sold at a range of two to thirty thousand rupees which gives them a profit of at least four times as compared to the original cost.
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''We prepare 1500 kgs of raw cocoons and after drying, their volume is reduced to 500 kgs. From this dry cocoon, 150 kgs of silk thread can be prepared and with the help of 1 kg silk thread, two silk sarees can be made. Cocoons are further classified into different categories namely A, B and C. A-class cocoons are sold at a price of Rs 350, B class at a price of Rs 300, C class at Rs 250 and D class cocoons at Rs 150. Earlier, only A-category cocoons were bought by the buyers for Rs 150 but now our market has expanded'', said the group.
