Stitching `nakshi katha’ to success
She has not only changed her lot but also rehabilitated more than 600
poor women of the district. When Yasmin was a student of class VIII in a local
high school at Kalinagar Chakbhabanipur in Shibganj upazila her parents married
her off with businessman Wahiduzzaman of Chapainawabganj town in 1986.
She passed long twenty years with her husband happily as her husband
was financially well-off. She also gave birth to three children during this
period.
But in 2006, her husband's business slumped and they became bankrupt.
They were also forced to sell their house and live in a rented house at
Balubagan in the town.
At this time of distress, Yasmin had to take the helm of her family. She decided to sew ‘nakshi katha’ (embroidered quilt). She contacted a local business centre of nakshi katha known as Nur Nakshi Katha. She started sewing nakshi katha and selling them to Nur Nakshi Katha at a profit of only Tk 150 each. In this way, she continued her labour and maintained her family for four years.
At this time of distress, Yasmin had to take the helm of her family. She decided to sew ‘nakshi katha’ (embroidered quilt). She contacted a local business centre of nakshi katha known as Nur Nakshi Katha. She started sewing nakshi katha and selling them to Nur Nakshi Katha at a profit of only Tk 150 each. In this way, she continued her labour and maintained her family for four years.
Then she thought of expanding her business and contacted Alhaj Sadar
Uddin, proprietor of Sopura Silk Factory in Rajshahi. She started business with
this firm and became highly benefited. Later, she took loans of Tk 2 lakh in
two phases from Chapainawabganj branch of Islami Bank Limited and appointed
other poor women for sewing nakshi katha.
She said she now owns a business firm named Shuvechcha Nakshi Katha where more than 600 poor women are now working. She herself design kathas and supply them to her workers for sewing by her appointed agents. She pays them Tk 1,000 for each katha, she added. She further said she now supplies nakshi katha to different shopping malls at Gulshan, Basundhara and Mirpur in Dhaka and shops in Khulna, Mymensingh and Jamalpur districts and Sopura Silk Factory in Rajshahi.
She said she now owns a business firm named Shuvechcha Nakshi Katha where more than 600 poor women are now working. She herself design kathas and supply them to her workers for sewing by her appointed agents. She pays them Tk 1,000 for each katha, she added. She further said she now supplies nakshi katha to different shopping malls at Gulshan, Basundhara and Mirpur in Dhaka and shops in Khulna, Mymensingh and Jamalpur districts and Sopura Silk Factory in Rajshahi.
Meanwhile, she got training on nakshi katha twice from Bangladesh Small
and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) in Chapainawabganj. She also
participated in the Women Entrepreneurs Conference and Goods Exhibition - 2014
at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in Dhaka on March 13,
2014 as an entrepreneur.
Currently, she is residing at a rented house at Kallyanpur Fokland Square in
Chapainawabganj municipality. Still she conducts her business from the house
and she is thinking of installing show rooms for the publicity and sale of her
products in a broader scale. Yasmin said her husband had been always beside her
and inspired her in her all initiatives. While asked she said sale of her
products has fallen by more than 60 percent as she cannot send her products to
other districts because of the ongoing
blockade and hartals.
blockade and hartals.
Chapainawabganj
Nwes/ NSM Mahbubur Rahman Mintu, Special Correspondent/ 10-03-15