Dalit woman heads a Rs 3000 crore business enterprise

24 Dec 2011
Kalpana Saroj, 50, is the daughter of a Dalit police
constable in Akola district of Maharashtra. Today she
heads a Rs.3,000 crore business enterprise.
Saroj was one of five women entrepreneurs at the first
trade fair organised by the Dalit Indian Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (DICCI) who have fought not
only social prejudices but also gender bias.
The trade show aimed
to change the
traditional image of
Dalits - some of India's
most socio-
economically
marginalised - as
always being seekers
and dependent on
government aid. And
these five women -
Saroj, Geeta Parmar,
Aparna Kadam, Sana
Ansari and Ishita Lal -
had more to be proud
of in a field that has
historically been a male-dominated affair.
Saroj was pulled out of school and married off at the
age of 12 only to return home in a pathetic state due to
the physical and mental torment of her in-laws .
She attempted to join the police force at age 13, but
failed. She tried her hand at nursing and failed again.
She then learned stitching and sewing and made efforts
to stitch clothes of her fellow villagers. But this only
antagonised the villagers who thought a 'returned
bride' was stepping beyond her social boundaries.
"At the age of 15, I moved to Mumbai and was lucky
enough to be sheltered by a benevolent Gujarati
family. I then joined a hosiery unit on a wage of Rs.2
per day and have never looked back since," says Saroj.
At 22, Saroj married a small-time furniture
manufacturer. She also revived his ailing steel-
cupboard manufacture business.
This mother of two then started a construction
company. "In 1995, I bought a piece of land at a
throwaway price and managed to clear
encroachments and other litigation on it," says Saroj.
In 1997, with the help of institutional finance, Saroj
erected a residential and commercial complex at a cost
of Rs.4 crore and sold it for a tidy profit.
Often referred to as someone who turns an ailing
business to a profitable one, Saroj took over Kamani
Tubes. "A brand leader in non-ferrous tubes, the
company was started by Mumbai's well-known
industrialist Ramji Kamani, a Gandhian and close
associate of Jawaharlal Nehru," Saroj said.
Today Saroj's interests include various industries such
as construction, hotel, sugar, non-ferrous tubes and art
galleries. She is all set to enter the steel business soon.
Another such example is Parmar, who, along with her
husband, has been running a furniture manufacturing
business since she married in 1971. Though 61, she is
as fit as a fiddle and puts in long hours to manage the
business in Mumbai while her husband manages the
factory in Gujarat.
"It took me some time to settle down in Mumbai. Out of
sheer love for the family, I went on to help my
husband alongside taking care of my three children,"
she said.
Also fighting her own battle in a man's world is Kadam,
28, who runs her own event management firm
alongside leather and jewellery manufacturing
businesses.
"Event management is a strictly male-dominated
business. You will see girls working for the firms, but
not owning them," Kadam said. "I still face dirty
competition from my male counterparts in this
business. But with the support of my husband and
family, I will make it big here," she added.
An artist and freelance corporate designer Lal,
however, thinks life has been easier for her. "I am
mainly into corporate branding, marketing and
rebranding and have given new faces to existing
businesses by way of my rebranding ideas," Lal said.
"I am glad that I have not faced as many problems in
my career. However, I have not been professionally
trained in art. Hence, the challenge for me is to emerge
as the best in whatever I do," she said.
Also sitting quietly at her stall and attending to the
visitors is Sana Ansari, 36, who runs a small
manufacturing unit that makes scarves and 'hijabs' for
Muslim women.
"It started about eight years back when my 20-day- old
daughter Iqra's head needed to be covered with the
long scarf that women in our community wear. I
designed a scarf that could stay on her tiny head and
not fall off," Ansari said.
"A lot of women asked me where I got it from and that
they also wanted the scarf for their infant daughters. I
started to make them on my own initially andin also
started making 'hijabs'. Gradually, it prospered and I
hired people to help me with the tailoring."
Ansari supplies the 'hijabs' and scarves all over India
and produces over 10,000 pieces each year. - IANS
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