Pariwar Mahila Bachat Gat Kalamb, Taluka Indapur

The quartet of Mrs. Zakia Iqbal Tamboli, Mrs. Swati Mahesh Prabhune, Mrs. Rupali Balasaheb Mohite and Mrs. Surekha Vinod Humbe, are middle class residents of Kalamb, a small village in the Indapur taluka of Pune District. Their day to day chores revolved around working in the fields of other people and support their families through it. Inspired by the success of the Self Help Groups formed by the women from nearby villages, they established the Pariwar Mahila Bachat Gat on 22nd September 2014. The first decided objective of the group was to buy a sewing machine and provide tailoring services. Around this time, the Pune Zilla Parishad had organised a training camp for women’s SHG’s during which they were introduced to Mr. Balasaheb Nagre of the Sharda Mahila Sangh. Mr. Nagre soon introduced them the Mrs. Sunanda Pawar, Trustee, Sharda Mahila Sangh. Hon. Mrs. Sunandatai, in the first meeting itself, informed them about the various types of cloth products in the textile market. She also suggested them to combine their current product ideas with modernity and creativity and assured them that Sharda Mahila Sangh would always stand by them and from this moment started the inspiring and novel journey of the Pariwar Bachat Gat. The Pariwar Bachat Gat innovatively came up with the idea to produce Babywear which were made from a special ‘Cotts-Wool’ material. After the production was streamlined, Mrs. Sunandatai put the women of Pariwar SHG in touch with Doctors and Medical professionals. In the first face, a capital of twenty thousand was raised with an investment of 5000 per head by the members. The Sharda Mahila Sangh provided them with sufficient cloth and designs required for the business. In the first month itself the Pariwar SHG sold Babywear worth Rs. 30,000 to 5 hospitals. These women came to realize that no enterprise is worthless and that if one can supplement it with innovation and technology, anyone can become a successful entrepreneur. Gradually, they started reaching out to doctors, putting up stalls during medical programmes and meets, Putting up a stall during the Bhimthadi Jatra and advertised their products. They also started getting enquiries about their products and this increased the demand manifolds. Usually newborns are wrapped in cotton cloth. The care to check if the cloth is disinfected, if it is clean, is not taken. Which increases the risk of infections for the newborn. Hence, the products of Pariwar are disinfected. It is also checked for cleanliness before sales. Mrs. Sunanda Pawar herself puts in minute attention to maintaining the quality of the products made by the Self Help Groups. The idea to brand the products with the names or logos of the respective hospitals also hers. Within a year the SHG had started distributing their products to hospitals from Baramati, Indapur, Akluj, Phaltan, Pandharpur and surrounding areas. In a span of 2 years, the Pariwar Self help group achieved a turnover over measuring multiple lakhs. This enterprise which started with a capital of 20,000 rupees now holds a capital worth lakhs of rupees. This has also helped inspire other women from different villages to gather confidence about being entrepreneurs and realizing their dreams.