Reena Sharma’s (name changed) life came to a standstill when her husband passed away, leaving behind their five-year-old son. It was a big challenge for Reena to nurture the kid in the absence of her husband.
Thanks to Ajay Amjera, founder of Ajmera Fashion, a leading manufacturer of sarees in Surat, Reena has become ‘Aatmanirbhar’ (self-dependent) by starting her own small business of saree trading in Bihar. Reena’s story isn’t unique. Over 5,000 women from various states and regions across the country, most of whom are from middle and lower-middle-class households and homemakers, have become successful entrepreneurs in the last few years, earning a living for their children and families.
Ajay Ajmera and his wife, Rachana Jain, were inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ programme and came up with a unique idea that would impact the lives of thousands of women across the country.
The idea was to promote women’s entrepreneurship by helping housewives belonging to the underprivileged sections of society to do business. Ajay and his wife Rachana set up a team to identify and train the women from villages, small towns, and even big cities who were eager to change their lives by doing business.
The women from different states and districts were shortlisted and trained in batches. These women were taught how to start a saree business by saving and investing a little amount of money. They were educated about every aspect of the clothing business. The earning potential of the saree business was quite instrumental in convincing them to start their own business.
Ajay Ajmera, founder of Ajmera Fashion said, “I come from a middle-class household and experienced poverty as a child. I was determined to do something for the needy women from the lower strata of society to make them self-dependent. This is how we began providing business training to women, and we are proud to say that over 5,000 women now run their saree businesses across the country.”
Once the women were equipped with the business know-how, Ajmera Fashion supplied them with the stock of the sarees with the latest designs at wholesale rates. To spread the unique business proposition for needy women, Ajmera made scores of inspirational business videos on YouTube to propagate the idea of making the Aatmanirbhar women entrepreneurs. The videos went viral across the country, and many women joined in the mission.
“There are many women who started from a scratch, visiting door-to-door for selling their sarees, and now they own their big saree showrooms,” said Ajmera.
Ajmera’s unique Aatmanirbhar initiative was recognized by the Maharashtra Government, and he was conferred with the prestigious ‘The Champions of Change Award-2020” by the Governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari.