Parwati Sahu

Parwati Sahu eagerly smiles at her customers as she welcomes them every day to her shop, but the smile on her face lights up further on seeing the first glimpse of her three children returning from the nearby school. They come straight to her arms after school and together they go back home after shop closes around 7 pm. Parwati’s ambition in life is to create a good life for her hildren. She wanted her children to gain good education which she never had. Parwati says, “My children can concentrate better on their studies, and they are all doing better at school, thanks to the present financial stability of my family”.

Thirty-year-old Parwati Sahu is the mother of 3 children and lives in a small village on the outskirts of Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. To support her family, she along with her husband set up a small fruits & vegetable shop at the nearby Garha market 12 years ago, but with limited resources at the shop, they struggled to generate enough income to support her family’s needs. Parwati then had an idea of opening a small cosmetic and fancy bangle shop nearby, as she witnessed people rushing for these products at the market.

However, the capital to start a new venture remained a problem. She approached local financiers but lack of collateral security played a major hurdle in getting loans. Luckily for her, she was introduced to Muthoot Microfin at this time and was excited to know about the institution’s hassle-free loan procedures. Parwati joined Muthoot and immediately availed a microfinance loan. She invested the entire first cycle loan amount of `30,000 to start her new but modest bangle shop.

Muthoot Microfin also gave her trainings on business acumen and financial literacy. Parwati worked hard and eventually started to earn good income from the business. Slowly, she developed her shop from the humble beginnings, brought in several fast-moving items and employed two women from her village, further enabling them to support their families. When she started her association with Muthoot Microfin, Parwati was barely able to keep up with their daily family expenses. Now she is a successful woman entrepreneur and a role model in her community.