She Used To Sell Namkeen On A Small Cart But An Opportunity Helped Her Expand It Into A Business That Secured Her Son’s Future

She Used To Sell Namkeen On A Small Cart But An Opportunity Helped Her Expand It Into A Business That Secured Her Son’s Future

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Lata Kalaskar was more educated than the other girls of her village in Amravati, Maharashtra. Things were going well for her and eventually she also got married. But fate had other plans for Lata when her husband’s business closed and the family was under huge financial incapacity. Things got worse with the untimely death of her youngest son due to an illness that Lata was blamed for.

When both her home and hope were lost, she realised the importance of self-support and decided to take control of her life.

She started a ‘Mahila Bacchat Gath’ with the women in her village. She hoped that the group would come together and save money that would give the women financial security and help them become independent. She didn’t want them to feel as helpless as she did.

She then found out about ICICI Bank’s Self Help Group – Bank Linkage Programme exclusively for underprivileged women in rural India. With the help of this programme that provides loans to women-led groups, Lata expanded her business. From selling namkeen on a small cart, she went on to sell the savory delight on a larger scale.

A loan of Rs 67,000 from ICICI Bank helped her pursue her goals. “I cannot express how happy I was,” says Lata.

Today, her smallest dream is her biggest reality. She fries namkeen and sells it in bigger markets with the help of a tempo that she bought through another loan from ICICI Bank. She earns enough money and is now confident that she will be able to support her son and secure his future.

There was a time when Lata had nothing. Now, people from faraway places come to buy namkeen from her.

“For others, these are just bags of namkeen, but for me it is my self-respect and the happiness of my family,” she says.



Lata’s story is only one among the 2.5 million women who have been impacted through ICICI’s Women Empowerment initiative.

Such initiatives show how a person’s life can change with just a little help. If brands like ICICI continue to help women in a similar manner, we can definitely see substantial change in the coming years.

Not just this initiative but ICICI Bank is working on a number of initiatives across Skill Development, Education, Clean India, Green India and Health, with an objective of Empowering People, Transforming Lives. Read more about how their initiatives have impacted lives of over 17 million underprivileged people here.

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Editor : The Logical Indian

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