Dalit Bandhu: Welding a sparkling success story against all odds

Neelam Satish, 32, runs a welding unit, employs five youngsters and sells iron beds, chairs and tables to clients across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Odisha

Karimnagar: Neelam Satish, 32, used to sell plastic items by going from house to house on his motorbike. Now, he runs a welding unit, employs five youngsters and sells iron beds, chairs and tables to clients across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

Hailing from Challur of Veenavanka mandal, Satish still remembers those days when he had to brave the summer heat and monsoon rain to go around town selling plastic articles, leaving his family behind.

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Sharing his life story, Satish says instead of ancestral property, he inherited a debt of Rs 5 lakh which his parents incurred while performing his sister’s marriage. To clear the loan, he started touring villages in an auto-trolley, which he bought with his in-laws’ help to sell steel utensils. However, with not much of a profit, he joined another person in selling household plastic items in neighbouring States. Satish began visiting Maharashtra, Odisha and Chhattisgarh on a motorbike to sell the plastic items.

With that too not helping much, he, along with three others, started a welding shop at Garrepalli in Sultanabad four years ago. However, he had to shut shop as differences cropped up between the partners. It was then that Satish got to know about Dalit Bandhu, which could help him start his own business without depending on anyone.

About a year ago, he took three guntas of land in Challur on lease, built a shed and bought the required material for his own welding shop by spending Rs 10 lakh. Depending on the season, five-10 youngsters work for him. From looking down upon him, now relatives and villagers approach him respectfully for tips on establishing similar businesses, he says.