Sarvodhaya women show the way in rural entrepreneurship in Telangana

The Sarvodhaya Women Entrepreneurs-Gonguluru has achieved a record turnover of Rs 60 lakh in the first year after its cottage industry was set up in the Gonguluru village in Sangareddy district in Telangana

Sangareddy: Showing the way for women empowerment in rural areas, the Sarvodhaya Women Entrepreneurs-Gonguluru has achieved a record turnover of Rs 60 lakh in the first year after its cottage industry was set up in the Gonguluru village in Sangareddy district in Telangana.

The Sarvodhaya Grama Seva Foundation (SGSF) was set up by IRS officer Dr Sudhakar Nayak, along with other IRS officers and doctors, to mentor women entrepreneurs of Gonguluru. The SGSF adopted the Gonguluru village in 2019 to bring all-around development to the village in Pulkal Mandal. As part of this, it motivated local self-help group women to set up a cottage industry to manufacture things for earning profits besides creating employment for them.

This saw 78 SHG women from Gonguluru village and neighbouring hamlets being joined by 52 urban women, mostly doctors and other professionals, who mobilised Rs 2 crore to start the industry on February 16 last year. While urban women are playing a key role in marketing the products, rural women are engaged in manufacturing. The women supply cold-pressed edible oils, unpolished pulses, processed millets, spices, pickles, handmade soaps, detergents and other products. The products under the brand name ‘Manjeera’ are sold on various platforms, including www.sarvodayasmanjeera.com.

The women entrepreneurs also opened their first outlet at Pothireddypally junction in Sangareddy town. Of the 35 women working, who are also stakeholders in the company, 22 are working at the manufacturing unit while the rest are in marketing. The women are paid Rs 10,000-12,000 per month. One of the women takes home Rs 22,000 per month. They also get incentives based on sales and production.

Within a year, the women could make products worth Rs 60 lakh, according to Dr Nayak. Since there was a huge demand for cold-pressed oils in Hyderabad, Dr Nayak said they could not meet the demand. However, they were planning to increase production by procuring seeds. Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, NIRD & PR, NIMSME, PJSTSAU, Khadi Gramodyog and other organisations are supporting the Sarvodhaya women.

Speaking to Telangana Today, one of the women, Sirisha, said she was happy that she was getting constant income for the last one year. Since they invested some amount in the industry, Sirisha said the value of her stake was also growing at 60 per cent. Dr Archana, who was playing a key role in marketing the products, said the job was giving immense satisfaction to them because they were acting as a bridge between the rural women manufacturers and urban consumers.