Nestled amidst the plains of a small town, Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, lives Gauhar Fatima. Mother of two and the entrepreneur behind the Rope Weaving Cluster. The cluster is a green enterprise that upcycles industrial textile waste into ropes and then weaves it into different types of furniture. This is a traditional art of the weaving community in the region and this legacy is passed down through generations and women are the keepers of this tradition.

Usha Devi a resident of Mirzapur, lives with her husband and four children. She is the only breadwinner of her family as her husband is unemployed. With the responsibility of feeding her children she got registered with MGNREGA and would get seasonal employment as a farm labour as well. Her eldest son who does odd jobs and Usha together could only make ends meet.

Anand Sahu, a 25-year-old entrepreneur from Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh, has a family of five members who are all engaged in their respective works. Anand’s father had been running flour mill-cum-oil extraction enterprise near the local market for the last five years. During this time Anand helped his father run the business while pursuing his Master of Commerce degree, which he has now completed. But due to an unfavourable job market, he did not succeed in securing a decent job despite applying to many places.

If one listens to the challenges in Chanda Shukla’s life, it may appear that she lives a life full of gloom and misery, but that is not Chanda from Mirzapur. She is a fighter who has won over her difficult circumstances and is a proud e-rickshaw driver in her community. She lives a life of dignity and supports her family as well as her children’s education single-handedly.

A 25-year-old B.Com graduate discovered that residents of his village had limited access to accurate information and had to go to Mirzapur city for every digital service. He decided to start a Common Service Centre in his village in 2016 to assist residents in accessing digital services close to their homes. He had been considering starting an enterprise since his college days. 

Seeking a way to curb the financial challenges faced by his family, Faiyas Ali started his carpet-weaving business over a decade ago. Although he faced many ups and downs in running this business, he made sure, with his skills and hard work, that the business grew steadily. In 2017, the community business competition KaunBanega Business Leader was organised in his village, which led him to join the Work4Progress programme. Under the programme, he learned about marketing and received capacity-building training, which helped his business to grow. His business has scaled, and he currently employs 18 craftsmen permanently, who come from nearby areas.

Read the story of Zenmuankim, who heads the administrative unit at the Common Facility Center (CFC) of the Indian Micro Enterprises Development Foundation-Scheme of Funds for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (IMEDF-SFURTI) Aromatic cluster in Churachandpur district, Manipur. She works as a link to collectivise women farmers and in the cluster, extracts lemongrass oil to make products like lemongrass tea, oil, dispensers, etc.

Rehana Bibi is a master trainer of silk yarn reeling at the Indian Micro Enterprises Development Foundation-Scheme of Funds for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (IMEDF-SFURTI) Jungle Mahal Tasar Cluster in West Bengal. She learned the craft as part of capacity-building programmes conducted under IMEDF-SFURTI to promote the Tasar silk value chain among the santhal tribal artisans. Hitherto, she has trained 40-50 women to operate yarn reeling machines.

Read the inspiring story of Sanatan Maity, 91, from Paschim Midnapore, West Bengal, whose journey shows a pledge towards 75 years of self-reliance of upholding craft and economic independence. A master trainer of Taant  (handloom) and Charkha at the Mat and Babui Grass Craft Cluster. Over the years, he has trained over 600+ artisans.

Read the story of V. C. Aliveni from Chintapalle village in Visakhapatnam. She is a part of the cluster that employs 500 coffee producers from tribal communities and links them with traders who procure at fair prices. Visakhapatnam Coffee Cluster is one of the Indian Micro Enterprises Development Foundation-Scheme of Funds for Regeneration of Traditional Industries clusters (IMEDF-SFURTI) clusters, which employs more than 500 coffee producers from 127 villages with tribal communities of over 46,000 members.