A monthly saving of just 100 Rupees helped Ahilya Nishad take the first step towards a more secure future. Today, she runs a small hotel in Bilaigarh (A), in Chhattisgarh’s Sarangarh-Bilaigarh district, earning between 15,000 and 24,000 Rupees a month. Her journey shows how steady effort, access to credit and the support of a self-help group can turn a modest beginning into a lasting source of family income.
For Ahilya, managing household expenses and meeting the cost of her children’s education had once been difficult. Her circumstances began to change on 15 March 2018, when she joined the Lakshmi Self-Help Group under the Bihan scheme, part of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission. She began saving 100 Rupees each month and gained more than a habit of saving: the group gave her a platform to plan and pursue a livelihood.
With the group’s support, Ahilya secured a bank loan of 1 lakh Rupees and opened a breakfast shop, Nishad Hotel, beside the village’s main road. With encouragement from her husband, Kirtilal Nishad, and her own hard work, the business gradually found its footing. The hotel now brings in around 500 to 800 Rupees a day.
That income has strengthened the family’s finances and made it easier to plan for the children’s education. Ahilya is now known locally as a “Lakhpati Didi” and has become an example for other women considering a small business of their own.
Her story also points to the wider value of self-help groups. They can help rural women build savings, access institutional credit and turn practical skills into livelihoods. But starting a business is only the beginning. Reliable access to markets, training and continued financial support can help ensure that these enterprises remain viable and grow.
Ahilya’s progress did not come from a single loan or scheme alone. It grew from a small, regular saving, the support of her group and the determination to keep working. That is the deeper lesson: when women have the tools and opportunity to earn, the benefits reach beyond one business, to their families, their confidence and the wider community.
Author: This news is edited by: Abhishek Verma, (Editor, CANON TIMES)
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