Vimladevi Nath was a struggling widow who used to work as a construction labourer in Bharai Gram Panchayat of Kekri Block in Ajmer district (Rajasthan). She has three children, two sons and a daughter. Her husband was a chronic alcoholic who succumbed to his habit eight years ago. Since then the bare minimum wages she earned had sustained the family. When Chandrasakhi, the Micro Enterprise Consultant oriented her SHG, Vimladevi expressed her interest to start a flour mill in her village. She chose a flour mill over other options she had because she belonged to the Gurjar community which had a considerable presence in the village. However, not a single household of the community had a flour mill and the others who owned non-commercial mills were reluctant to let Gurjars use them due to the caste issues prevalent in the village. The community faced difficulty in carrying the grains to the town and the flour back home due to the poor condition of the road connecting the village and due to the absence of public transport.

                                                            Left to Right: Chandrasakhi, Vimladevi

She established a flour mill in her house with the help of a loan taken from the Block Resource Centre. Her enterprise became a hit soon as she had at least 100-150 households in the village who wanted to avail her service and from them she was able to charge a higher fee than the market price. However, Vimladevi, a determined woman still utilises her free time during day to work as a daily wage labourer and hence maximises her monthly revenue. If there are customers coming during day time, Vimla’s sister would do the chores. Vimla usually returns to her shop for the peak hours by 3 PM every day. She says, “My life has been a story of constant struggle. Right from my childhood, and my marriage was disastrous. When I was convinced that there was no hope left, I was at the verge of taking my elder son with me to the construction site. I never wanted that to happen. I wanted to give them education. Chandrasakhi di came then and saved my children’s future…”

                                                                 Vimladevi and her children

Today she earns a decent living from the mill in addition to the wages. Chandrasakhi opines that the revenue has been decreasing due to the seasonal nature of agricultural produce. To combat this, she seeks to expand the customer base for Vimladevi. For this, Chandrasakhi has been accompanying Vimladevi to SHGs of nearby villages to market her enterprise.