Success Stories

WHEN NOT HAVING A TOILET ALMOST COST A LIFE

Phula Devi of Muzaffarpur, Bihar, is blessed with a big family consisting of a daughter, two sons, their wives, and grand-childs. The entire family used to relieve themselves in the open, until one fateful day her daughter got attacked by a snake. Fortunately, the snake had only managed to wrap itself around her ankle and didn’t bite her.

“We did not have a toilet. It was disheartening to see my family relieve themselves out in the open. For safety and privacy reasons, we had to go to nearby farms and relieve ourselves. Several times, we were verbally abused by the farm owners, but there was not much I could do about it. We are lucky that the snake did not bite my daughter. It was a horrifying experience that I would never want any of my family members to go through again”.

Phula Devi was eager to find a solution and when she met with a SCNL loan officer, she was relieved. “The snake incident solidified my reasoning to get a loan and build a toilet. I am thankful to Satin for the ₹15,000 loan that helped me immensely to have a household toilet. I can finally relax and not worry about the safety of my family when they go and relieve themselves.”

IMPACT STORY FROM PUNJAB

Manjit Kaur got associated with SCNL in the year 2015, when she took a loan of ₹ 25,000 for her grocery shop. She is grateful to SCNL for providing her hassle free loan, without any collateral. She had started her small grocery shop with limited items but after three loan cycles with SCNL, her shop is well stocked with almost all the items required by a rural household for its daily needs. Increased popularity and income from the shop has also helped in improving the overall social and financial status of their household in the community as a whole. Her children are now going to English medium school in the village.

“Credit support from SCNL has helped my grocery store to gain popularity in the village as I am able to keep my shop well stocked, with the help of these loans. I along with all my centre members prefer to take loan from SCNL rather than from the local money lenders of the village. Every time the process and service is very smooth and fast. My store fills me with a feeling of pride and self-confidence,” shared Manjit.

REARING POULTRY TO REAP PROFIT

Tileswari Das, is a resident of Naharkatia, in Sivasagar, Assam. Her family comprises of her husband and two children. Earlier, their financial position was not very steady due to irregular earnings.

In the year 2019, Tileswari got associated with SCNL and was disbursed her first loan of ₹ 25,000 to invest in broiler farming to enhance her family income. The collateral-free and low-cost nature of the micro-loan, allowed her to work independently and purchase medicines/ vaccinations to maintain chicks at affordable rates and even work towards developing her marketing network and increase the broiler sales in her neighbourhood.

Tileswari now earns about ₹ 300-400 per day. Considering her growing business, her husband also lend a helping hand to support her in this business. She is now financially immune and plans to further strengthen her business with SCNL. She is a proud entrepreneur now and is a motivation to several women in her neighbourhood.

PROFITABILITY IN DAIRY ENTERPRISE

Asha Devi (Branch-Sirathu Allahabad, State Uttar Pradesh), is associated with SCNL since 2018, when she took her first loan of ₹ 25,000 for purchasing buffalo. Later she took another loan of ₹ 40,000 to purchase another buffalo. Before joining SCNL, her family’s economic condition was very poor, which gradually started improving with purchase of buffaloes and selling of their milk to the milk collector. Her son, Jitendra Kumar, is also engaged in her dairy enterprise. They then thought of supplying milk in the neighbouring town on their own, to get higher price for their milk. But for this, they needed a vehicle as the town was not accessible by foot.

Asha then again approached SCNL staff and got another loan to purchase a bicycle in January 2020. Her son would now carry all the milk to the town on his bicycle and started home delivery of milk. This led to a jump in their earnings with removal of middleman. Asha Devi is grateful to SCNL since the bicycle purchased through SCNL loan brought a huge change in their lives. They now plan to purchase few more buffaloes from their profits and another loan to start a dairy of their own.

FROM BARREN LAND TO VEGETABLE FARM

Tumpa Ghorui is a resident of Janai village in Howrah district of West Bengal. Three years back, the condition of the family was very miserable and Tumpa was unable to provide decent meals to her family with the meagre earnings from working as an agricultural labourer. They had a small plot of land which was lying barren.

She got to know about SCNL in 2019 from her fellow villagers and approached our loan officer to seek financial assistance to start her own business. After availing a loan of ₹ 20,000, Tumpa levelled her barren agricultural land and started growing vegetables in the small plot. She also bought a pushcart for selling vegetables in the village market. Now her daily earning from vegetable selling is between ₹ 450-700. And her financial condition is improving gradually. “My family now has a regular source of income, thanks to SCNL. Timely credit assistance from SCNL gave me an opportunity to start my own business and support my family in difficult time.” says Tumpa.

FROM HOUSEWIFE TO DAIRY ENTREPRENEUR

Rajkumari, a resident of Monujaie village of Bareilly district (State Uttar Pradesh), required loan for starting her dairy business, in 2015 but no one in the extended family or friends was ready to give that amount. She shared that local moneylenders charge exorbitant rate of interest and also demand house paper as guarantee for loan. It was then that SCNL helped her by providing timely credit support for buying buffalo to set up her own dairy. She is very thankful to SCNL for helping her. After starting dairy business, her income and social status both increased manifold. She explains how her life has changed after starting her dairy business and becoming one of the earning member of her family. More earning meant better education for her children and enhanced lifestyle for the family as well. After the first loan in 2015 (Amount – 15000), she has availed two more loans from SCNL in 2016 (₹ 15000) and 2018 (₹ 30000).
Today she is very thankful to SCNL since it not only provided her a loan but also made her financially active and independent. “SCNL has supported me a lot to make it all possible”, shares delighted Rajkumari.

HAVING A TOILET CAN AFFECT THE AMOUNT YOU EARN

A lack of proper sanitation poses challenges to one’s safety, well-being, and even productivity. Soni Khatoon and her mason husband support a family of five. The lack of a toilet in their house affected her husband’s health and job. He would often miss going to work several times a month, which, as a daily wage earner, reduced his income.
“We did not have a toilet, which often caused my husband to be late to or even miss work. Our income decreased because of this. We realized that we need to get a toilet, or our income would continue to decrease.”
Soni then connected with a SCNL loan officer, who explained how a toilet can not only prevent absent days from work, but also provides a safe and secure option for the entire family. She then applied for a loan and once it was approved, she built a toilet in her home. Soni’s husband no longer faces challenges with reaching site on time and their income has stabilized, creating more savings for their family.

BEAUTIFYING OTHERS TO STRENTHEN HER HOUSEHOLD

Rajkumari Sonwani is a resident of Serikhedi village, in Raipur district (State Chhattisgarh). Her family comprises of her husband and two children. Her husband works as a taxi driver and works long hours to provide livelihood for his family. Rajkumari also wanted to work and contribute financially to her family income.

While brainstorming on different work options with her husband, she realized that with increasing exposure to internet and television, women in her village also wanted to avail parlour services to look beautiful and groomed but there was no beauty parlour in the village. Rajkumari had done a short course in grooming and makeup, before marriage.

She decided to open a beauty parlour and utilize her skills for earning additional income for her household. She then got associated with SCNL, through a neighbourhood group and availed a loan of ₹ 20,000 in July 2018. By investing her loan amount in setting up a beauty parlour in her house, she got a chance to work towards betterment of her life. The collateral-free and low-cost loan from SCNL, facilitated her to purchase furniture, cosmetics and other material required for a beauty parlour and start her work. Rajkumari now earns about ₹ 400-500 per day. She then took another loan of ₹ 30,000 from SCNL to further grow her business and stock up her parlour. She is a proud entrepreneur now and is a motivation to several women in her neighbourhood.

Making Aspirations Come to Life

Born in Puruna Balasore, Mitarani Behera led a deprived childhood owing to the financial distress. Her financial hardships stood like a wall between her and her dreams. Despite her fondness for studies, she had to miss out on education leading to her most cherished dream being shattered to smithereens. She didn’t wish the same fate for her children as she wanted them to have the brightest of futures similar to the likes of how every parent aspires for the best future for their children. In order to provide them quality education and a secured life, Mitarani and her husband commenced the business of pottery and small oil lamps. As she started with limited capital for pottery business, she made small oil lamps from the raw material waste of pottery.

In the nascent stage of their business, they made recurrent purchases for raw material in every few days as it was reliant on the income from daily sales which in turn increased their outlay. Thanks to the financial assistance from SCNL. It helped them making bulk purchases and availing the benefit of economies at scale. This led to an increase in the supply of the number of pots, leading to 20% business growth. Today, she earns approximately ₹ 45,000 – ₹ 70,000 per month by selling each pot at ₹ 2.25. Mitarani has gained back her confidence and is ready to take next step
by expanding her business further.

Inspiring Women to follow their Dreams

Jyotika Borgohain lives with her family in Ram Nagar Village, Digboi, Assam. She has faced years of privation as her husband’s income was inadequate to meet the family expenses. This led her to borrow money from neighbours and relatives at high interest rates to meet the family needs.

Determined to support her family, she started the pickle business driven by a friend’s suggestion of the same after she tasted Jyotika’s handmade delectable pickle. However, she had no capital to start the business. However, soon after, she became aware of SCNL’s Digboi branch and their simplified loan process. She thus availed a loan of ₹ 25,000 to start the pickle business from home. Today, she sells around 10 Kg of pickle every day at the rate of ₹ 300 and earns a monthly profit of around ₹ 15,000. Her financial independence has helped in supporting her children’s education and further leading a better quality of life. Currently, she is doing well in her business and is looking to scale up by applying for a loan of ₹ 40,000 in the 2nd cycle. She is a true inspiration for many women in her village and for the society.

Seven Years of Glory with SCNL

Hemlata lives with her family at Rajiv Nagar, Khajrana in Indore. She has been associated with SCNL for the last seven years. With an aim to provide for a better future to her children and raise their standard of living, she applied for a loan of ₹ 12,000.

She successfully set up a grocery store in Rajiv Nagar backed by financial assistance from SCNL. Slowly and steadily she started earning well and repaid the loan instalments. SCNL increased her eligibility to avail a higher loan amount that aided in the expansion of her business. Today, her business is running smoothly, and both her children have access to quality education. With an aspiration to make them responsible citizens, she has proved that planning, dedication and execution are the most important attributes of success. Hemlata believes that SCNL has proved to be a lifeline during difficult times by supporting her to achieve entrepreneurial dreams.

The Story of Perseverance

Smt. Muninarasamma used to live in a joint family at Gerehalli, Chikkabalapur. However, as her husband’s income didn’t suffice to shoulder the financial responsibilities, they went on to live separately. She then decided to contribute to the family income and thus started working as a daily labour.

Saving bit by bit, she managed to set up a vegetable shop that helped increase their income. Nonetheless, it wasn’t still enough to cope up with the growing trends of inflation and increase in education expenses. Amidst such challenging times, she came to know about SCNL from one of her neighbours. She purchased organic vegetables from her first loan of ₹ 30,000. As the business
progressed, she moved to a rented shop beside the main road at Chikkabalapura (Town). This helped her in becoming a prime earning member of the house and improving her social status.

Smt. Muninarasamma is truly grateful to SCNL as it helped her explore the successful avenues in life, from being a daily wage earner to currently employing two workers in her grocery business. She feels proud when people acknowledge her hard work and the zeal to succeed.

Ranu Kalita aged 38 years is a resident of Changsari, in Guwahati, Assam. She lives with her husband and two children. Their financial position was not very stable with her husband’s income for proper survival of their family. Lacking of financial literacy, assets or proper incomes, they can never reach out to in banks or formal institutions. We believe that with SCNL, we can abolish poverty by giving weavers a chance to stand on their feet.

One year back Ranu Kalita associated with SCNL for her 1^st loan of Rs 30,000 from center ID : C_7696, to enhance her income through Weaving of cloths. By investing her loan amount in Weaving of cloths, she got a chance to work towards a better life. The collateral-free and low-cost nature of the micro-loans offers from SCNL allows her to work independently and purchase yarn in bulk at affordable rates and even work towards improving her marketing channels or increase of sell quantity in her own place. Ranu Kalita now earns about Rs. 200-300 per day.

Considering her growing business, her husband also give time to support her in this business. She is now financially secure and plans to further strengthen her business with SCNL. There are many untold stories disguised by the rhythm of the weaving which can be heard in every village of Assam as Ranu Kalita. She is a proud entrepreneur now and is an inspiration to several women around her.

Manju Kumari, aged 28 Years lived in Husaina Bujurg, Bhagwanpur. She got associated with SCNL about 3 years back to get financially independent and wanted better education and future for kids. And also to give a good life to her family.

She then came to SCNL, which gave her a loan of Rs.30, 000 to start up the business of garments (primarily Saree & Salwar suit).

Manju Kumari worked hard and was determined to boost the financial status of her family. Initially she struggled a lot because of nearby competitors but still she managed her to grow her business.  Today Manju’s both children are studying in good school. Manju Kumari, sets an example of women empowerment & entrepreneurship.

“I am happy with the services rendered by the Company. Our lifestyle has improved and we are respected and loved by all. Today we dream of a larger business and a better life for our children,” says a grateful Manju Kumari.

Ranjeeta Devi, aged 28 Years lived in Kutubpur, Bhagwanpur, Vaishali with her husband and two children. Ranjeeta Devi got associated with SCNL about 4 years back to get financially independent and provide her children with better education and future. She then came to SCNL, which gave her a loan of Rs.20, 000 to open this Kirana Shop in Kutubpur. She  worked hard and was determined to improve the financial status of her family. Soon her business started to grow.

And with this small amount of loan which she had taken & initiate this business, today she is running the shop smoothly on a medium scale. Her both child are going to school and her dream is to make them a successful citizen of the country. Ranjeeta Devi, has proven to the world that planning, dedication & execution is key to success. “We found SCNL as a lifeline during our tough times. It has provided best services to our family,” says delighted Ranjeeta Devi.

27 year old Rinku Devi lived with her husband in the ward number 6 (East Champaran), Chapra Govind, Mehsi area. Rinku Devi got associated with SCNL in last year to strengthening her financial position. She came to SCNL, which gave her a loan of 25000 to open a small business of manufacturing & exporting shirt button.

Rinku Devi worked hard and was determined to improve the financial status of her family. Soon her business started to grow. For manufacturing purpose she used to get the raw material from local pond or river nearby. Not only in Bihar, had she used to export these shirt buttons to other states of India also. Rinku Devi has proven to the world that true charity is not by giving bread or money but providing employment opportunities to those who are in need.

Asmin aged 38 lives in Hatmi nagar, Jhunjhunu in state of Rajasthan. She lives there with husband Taufique and 3 children. Taufique is a daily wage labourer and stays out of home for most of the time to earn for his family. Asmin could see her husband spending day & night out of home to earn the bread and hence wanted to support him.

Before getting married Asmin had learnt some stitching work, but since it had been long she again joined a stitching centre to re-brush her skills and then she decided to take a loan of Rs 25000 (Center id: 201) from SATIN and bought few sewing machines and started her own business. Initially she hired few trained people to help her establish the business but later on she started training other girls/women in the locality for free and then hired them in the stitching centre.

These women not only learnt but started generating some income for their families as well. She explained us how she boosted her own confidence after she took the loan and now she is looking for more amount of loan in coming months as she wants to open a full-fledged stitching learning centre in her village to train girls and then employee them as well. Her aspiration is to have every woman in the village come ahead and help their families earn a respectful livelihood. She is really thankful to SATIN to not only make her financially independent but become a reason for lot of women in the village to wear a respectful smile.

Munni aged 23 lives in Uddawas village of Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan. She is married to Naresh who owns an auto rickshaw while Munni is involved into Goat farming. She purchases goats, uses them into dairy business and then sells them off at a good price. She is been able to save a handsome amount of money from the earnings she makes through this business.

Munni & her husband’s life was very different 3 years back to what it is today. Naresh used to drive auto rickshaw that he had taken on rent, so majority of the portion from his daily earnings went into paying of the rent and whatever he could save was just enough to take care of basic needs of the family and nothing more than that. This is when Munni came to know about SATIN and its financial services through which some other women in the village could support their spouses in earning the livelihood. Munni decided to become a member of SATIN and availed an income generating loan of Rs 25000 for the purpose of purchasing a cow and get into dairy business. The problems in their life did not end up here. The cow used to be unwell for most of the time and there was a burden of some more expenses on her head. For around 2 years she went on with this business and was supported by her husband who extended his work hours to bring some extra money to the family so that not only family need could be taken care but both could accumulate some money to pay of the loan instalments as well. While she was about to finish the loan she discussed her problems with Satin’s loan officer who provided her with another loan of Rs 37000 a year back to get into goat farming. Her idea and hard work now clicked and in 6 months of time she was doing really well. She has now 20 goats, does dairy business, purchases and sells goats and is able to generate good amount of money. They are now accumulating money so that Naresh can buy an auto rickshaw of his own and the entire earnings come for the family. She is really thankful to Satin for rendering necessary help & support to the family in her tough times.

Hence it is said “Where there is a will, there is a way”

Parveen aged 46 lives in Khokar colony, Jhunjhunu in state of Rajasthan. She is married to Jamil who currently doesn’t keep well and cannot go out for work. Parveen is doing the business of vegetable vending and earns livelihood for the family and she is helped by her eldest son who could not complete his studies since he had a burden of earning for the family at a small age since the father’s earning was not sufficient to take care of the entire family. They are able to earn a decent amount and are trying to save enough to make other 3 children in the house study well.

Parveen & her family’s life had been very difficult since her husband could not earn much from the daily labour to take care of all members of family and hence the eldest son had to join him at an early age. Around 2 years back, there was a big setback for the family when Parveen’s husband Jamil fell ill and was advised by doctor to not get into any physical work and the survival really became tough. Someone in the neighbourhood told Parveen about the financial services provided by Satin to empower women and she enrolled herself as a member taking a loan of Rs 25000 (Center id : 202) to start off as a vegetable vendor. From there, it was no looking back, her son joined in and they both have been working really hard to take care of entire family. She even plans to expand her business and hence has requested the loan officer of SATIN to help her with a bigger loan in coming months so that she can open a vegetable shop.

“Satin & the loan officer was not less than GOD for us to help us fight our tough times.. We have been diligent & loyal in paying off the instalments timely and will keep doing the same in future as well and would request SATIN to keep empowering more & more women who can come ahead and be a support for their families” – said Parveen & her son.