UP man earns lakhs making handicrafts and empowers women | Fusion - WeRIndia

Life gives opportunities to everyone. But you have to grab them when you have been given a chance. Ravi Prasad from Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh utilized the opportunity and changed his life. Read on to know about his journey, from financial hardships to becoming an entrepreneur.

Ravi Prasad hailed from a poor family. His father was a daily wager who died in a road accident. As a result, he had to drop out of school. He and his mother did various works for their livelihood. At the same time, he managed to finish his graduation. After his graduation, he joined a private company in Delhi, hoping to earn a good income. But, the company paid him less salary. Ravi was waiting for a better opportunity.

At that time, he visited an exhibition in Delhi, where he saw the products made from banana fibre. He realized the business potential.  Several farmers cultivate bananas in thousands of hectares in his village, and plenty of banana stems are disposed of.

Ravi then decided to learn handicrafts at a training centre in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. He does not know Tamil, and the food is also different. But, Ravi successfully completed the training course and returned home. He took a loan and set up a small cottage industry.

He started making different products like carpets, bags, footwear, grow bags, sanitary napkins, hats etc. Ravi procures banana stems from farmers directly and processes them in a machine to convert them into sheets. These sheets are turned into threads to make various products. Apart from that, these sheets are sold to textile companies to make clothes, bedsheets, fishing nets.

He associates with women for making these products. Over 450 women have benefitted from his venture. His products are selling in the range of ₹600 to ₹6,000. He exhibits his products at various exhibitions across the country. He also sells his products on Amazon and Flipkart. His revenue through the sale of these products is around ₹9 lakhs per year.

Image from Pxhere (Free for commercial use / CC0 Public Domain)

Image Reference: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1361285