Rural women in Prayagraj turn small loans into big livelihoods
In villages across Prayagraj, several women who earlier managed only household responsibilities are now running small enterprises. One of them is 42-year-old Sheila Devi.
A quiet shift in women’s economic participation is taking shape in rural Uttar Pradesh, with self-help groups (SHGs) enabling many women to step beyond domestic boundaries and build independent livelihoods under the State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM).
In villages across Prayagraj, several women who earlier managed only household responsibilities are now running small enterprises. One of them is 42-year-old Sheila Devi.
For years, Shiela, a graduate and a resident of Tikri Kanjasa village in the trans-Yamuna region, lived behind a veil, confined largely to her home. Financial hardship forced her to discontinue her education, leaving her dream of pursuing a BEd degree unfulfilled. Her husband Anuj Yadav struggled with unstable work, and the couple, along with their two young sons, found it difficult to make ends meet.
However, in 2021, Sheila joined the SRLM and helped set up the Ujala Mahila SHG. Through loans provided to SHG members, she received ₹80,000, which she repaid within a year.
She used the funds, along with a small personal contribution, to start a tent-house business. As the business expanded, she assigned some tasks to her husband and took up work as a ‘Bijli Sakhi’-- rural women trained to assist villagers with electricity-related services.
“I reinvested the commission earned from this work into my business, which today brings in an annual income of ₹12-15 lakh,” she said.
Sheila has encouraged many educated but home-bound women from neighbouring villages to join SHGs, and several have now become ‘Bijli Sakhis’ through her group. Her business alone provides employment to more than two dozen local residents, creating a small ecosystem of prosperity around her.
According to deputy commissioner of NRLM Ashok Kumar Gupta, 2.85 lakh rural women in the district have become self-reliant through SHGs, empowered by government-backed loans to start or expand their ventures. District mission manager Viraj Singh said such financial support has enabled women like Sheila to turn aspirations into enterprises.
