Dalit Bandhu turns luggage store workers into owners in Karimnagar

This story is a classic example of how the Telangana government's flagship scheme Dalit Bandhu is transforming the lives of Dalits in the Karimnagar district.

Karimnagar: Shenigerapu Kalyan and Shenigerapu Rajkumar used to slog for years as normal employees in different luggage stores in Hyderabad. Now, the duo, along with Shenigerapu Chandraiah, are owners of a branded company’s franchise in Karimnagar town and are planning to open one more showroom in Mancherial soon.

Their story is a classic example of how the State government’s flagship scheme Dalit Bandhu is transforming the lives of Dalits in the district. The trio, earning an average of Rs 1 lakh every month after all expenses, are residents of Chelpur of Huzurabad mandal. They had applied for the Dalit Bandhu scheme under the group business category on the names of their wives Saritha, Mamatha and Sammakka respectively, and got eligibility for the scheme.

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Instead of choosing passenger and goods transport vehicles, earthmovers, tippers, dairy or other units like many people opt for, they thought differently and decided to enter into the luggage business.

As two of them had previously worked with the outlets of a prominent luggage manufacturer in Hyderabad, they managed to get a franchise opened as the company’s exclusive store in Karimnagar town and inaugurated it near the district court’s chowk on the name of Raja Rajeshwara Enterprises on June 19. The store was developed according to the standards of the company by spending Rs 21 lakh and they purchased a four-wheeler trolley as well for transportation of luggage.

Earlier, Kalyan had worked as the store manager for the firm for 18 years while Rajkumar worked as a sales executive for 10 years. They earned a salary of Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 per month. According to sales records of the store they are operating now, business worth Rs 1.8 lakh was recorded in June, Rs 8.5 lakh in July, Rs 7.2 lakh in August, Rs 5.15 lakh in September and Rs 2.4 lakh so far this month.

Speaking to ‘Telangana Today’, Rajkumar said he had never thought he would be able to establish his own business and thanked Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao for making it happen by launching the Dalit Bandhu scheme.

Initially, they had also planned to apply for passenger vehicles but changed their decision as the grounding of vehicles had been delayed at that time. As they had previous experience in the luggage business, they shared the idea with SC Corporation officials, who also responded positively and moved the file.

Impressed by their business model, the company’s state in charge has given the nod to open another store in Mancherial, he said and added that they were planning to open the store in Mancherial on their own.