Physically challenged but high in spirits

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Follow us:WhatsappFacebookTwitterTelegram.cls-1{fill:#4d4d4d;}.cls-2{fill:#fff;}Google NewsTill a few years back, 28-year-old Puspalata Behera was a timid disabled woman who needed help even to step out of her ramshackle house in Madhusapatana village under Sadar block.Today, she is a successful entrepreneur who earns her living by being a grocer and even contributes to the family income.Born hunchback, Puspalata is just three feet high and weighs just 25 kg. Her parents started noticing deformity when she was just six months old. Today she is heavily hunchback and cannot stand straight.Although coming from a low economic background, her father Bansidhar (62) - a daily wager - spent all his savings on her treatment, but in vain. She could not complete her school education as she also faced eyesight problems.However, with a strong will to be self-reliant she started working in a cashew processing unit in her village and earned ` 20 to 25 against eight hours of back-breaking labour. “Though money was a necessity, I couldn’t work in the unit for a long time as my health did not permit,” she recalls. This was when she decided to do something on her own.But, her journey to self-reliance was not a bed of roses. She had to move from pillar to post for many months and knock the doors of each and every office in the district for financial assistance.No help came forth till the then assistant BDO Niranjan Mishra facilitated Rs 30,000 (including a subsidy of Rs 10,000) under Swarna Jayanti Swarnarojgar Yojana for her one and a half years back. With this assistance, she opened a grocery at her house where she sold 10 to 15 commodities. She could repay the loan of Rs 20,000 in a year.She again approached Mishra to expand her business who then facilitated a loan of Rs 50,000 from a private bank. She is now repaying the amount.From the 10 to 15 items, she is now selling 35 utility items.Villagers said Puspalata’s profit margin is very less. That is why they prefer to come to her shop. “I make a profit of Rs 1 to ` 3 on each grocery item while other shopkeepers in village earn Rs 5 to Rs 8 on the same item,” she says.At present, she makes a profit of Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 a month with which she manages her family.Impressed with her strong will and business acumen, the Sadar block administration officials sanctioned assistance under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) with which she set up a house. While the family stays in one part of the house, she has shifted her grocery shop to another.“When I started making good money from my shop, I urged my father not to work as a daily labourer. Today he helps me in my business,” says the proud girl.first published:January 01, 1970, 05:30 ISTlast updated:January 01, 1970, 05:30 IST
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Till a few years back, 28-year-old Puspalata Behera was a timid disabled woman who needed help even to step out of her ramshackle house in Madhusapatana village under Sadar block.

Today, she is a successful entrepreneur who earns her living by being a grocer and even contributes to the family income.

Born hunchback, Puspalata is just three feet high and weighs just 25 kg. Her parents started noticing deformity when she was just six months old. Today she is heavily hunchback and cannot stand straight.

Although coming from a low economic background, her father Bansidhar (62) - a daily wager - spent all his savings on her treatment, but in vain. She could not complete her school education as she also faced eyesight problems.

However, with a strong will to be self-reliant she started working in a cashew processing unit in her village and earned ` 20 to 25 against eight hours of back-breaking labour. “Though money was a necessity, I couldn’t work in the unit for a long time as my health did not permit,” she recalls. This was when she decided to do something on her own.

But, her journey to self-reliance was not a bed of roses. She had to move from pillar to post for many months and knock the doors of each and every office in the district for financial assistance.

No help came forth till the then assistant BDO Niranjan Mishra facilitated Rs 30,000 (including a subsidy of Rs 10,000) under Swarna Jayanti Swarnarojgar Yojana for her one and a half years back. With this assistance, she opened a grocery at her house where she sold 10 to 15 commodities. She could repay the loan of Rs 20,000 in a year.

She again approached Mishra to expand her business who then facilitated a loan of Rs 50,000 from a private bank. She is now repaying the amount.

From the 10 to 15 items, she is now selling 35 utility items.

Villagers said Puspalata’s profit margin is very less. That is why they prefer to come to her shop. “I make a profit of Rs 1 to ` 3 on each grocery item while other shopkeepers in village earn Rs 5 to Rs 8 on the same item,” she says.

At present, she makes a profit of Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 a month with which she manages her family.

Impressed with her strong will and business acumen, the Sadar block administration officials sanctioned assistance under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) with which she set up a house. While the family stays in one part of the house, she has shifted her grocery shop to another.

“When I started making good money from my shop, I urged my father not to work as a daily labourer. Today he helps me in my business,” says the proud girl.