WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS: KEY TO REVIVAL OF THE LOST PARADISE

Entrepreneurship is one of the globally accepted solutions for unemployment due to ever increasing population in all developing nations. Today world is facing the problem of unemployment and entrepreneurship is the key factor to bring out the economies from unemployment crisis. Indian economy is also facing the challenges of unemployment and poverty. In recent scenario government and many other agencies are focusing to promote the entrepreneurship atmosphere in the nation to fight against this problem of unemployment. The UT of Jammu and Kashmir is facing a troubled situation from last few years. According to the census of 2011, the state has recorded 12.5 million populations. The state has recorded 23.7% population from 2001 to 2011. J&K state faces the problem of unemployment due to this massive increase in population. JKEDI (Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute) creates entrepreneurship, awareness, skill and modifies the attitude of the people.

Defying all odds, the power of never dying hope and strength of resilience seem to drive the budding entrepreneurs of Jammu & Kashmir to bring prosperity and tranquillity in the UT. The daydreaming almost seems natural among these entrepreneurs as the major hurdles of Starting – Up has been removed by their actions. Moreover, the challenges have been more intense and staggering for women entrepreneurs in the form of being taken for granted and various perceived sermons what women should be doing and not. In recent times, many Kashmiri women have turned into successful entrepreneurs in their conservative society. Many of them are now bravely chasing their own dreams. Here are some trendsetting women entrepreneurs paving the path for future full of hope, prosperity and development.

Rifat Masoodi, is the only woman owner of a cricket bat manufacturing unit in Jammu and Kashmir popularly known as ‘batwoman’, is the only woman manufacturer of cricket bats in the Valley. Rifat has been running her bat manufacturing business for more than 18 years in the Narwara locality of Srinagar. She has set up manufacturing units in Awantipora, Anantnag and Pampore. Rifat took over the business after her father-in-law’s death who had started the business in 1970. It was her will to restart the business despite her family being against it. Rifat Masoodi is a mother of two and soon after the death of her father-in-law, the family was thinking about closing down the bat manufacturing factory located in one of the most volatile areas of Srinagar. Braving all odds, Rifat convinced her husband to let her run the factory which employs many local workers. Despite the social backlash, she took up the challenge in the year 2000. Every morning after sending her kids to school, she steps into the small unit near her house to oversee the work. Today, Rifat’s bat unit produces thousands of bats per month which are transported to the states all over India.

The UT of Jammu and Kashmir got its first female café owner with Mehvish Zargar in February this year. She co-founded Me ‘n’ U Café in Srinagar and became the first ever woman café entrepreneur in Kashmir. Her second cafe is in Munwarabad. She overcame her own inhibitions in choosing this path of entrepreneurship. Once she did it, the family tested her will and understood the seriousness of the decision. Zarger’s grit and dedication towards her dream, her family’s support and her self-confidence helped her to become the first café founder in Kashmir. Her ability to focus on her goal in the environment of sermons of being a girl helped her being successful. It expands hope that now more such women will rise towards their dreams.

Dial Kashmir app essentially consists of a directory feature which provides phone numbers, e-mail ids and addresses of essential and commercial services in Kashmir. The core service provided by Dial Kashmir is information. In addition to directory feature, it also has other features like ‘Find Pin code’, ‘Railway timings’, ‘list of holidays’, ‘Muslim Prayer timings’ etc to name a few. After she launched the app, a lot of people found it useful. A Computer Science engineer namely Mehvish Mushtaq , the youngest in her family of four. Her father is a retired Indian Forest Service officer while her mother is a homemaker. Her elder brother too has done his engineering followed by an MBA and currently works in Delhi. In the winter of 2013, she did an online course on android application development. As part of the course, the students were required to develop an app on their own. So Dial Kashmir happened as part of that project. It took about two weeks for Mehvish to develop the first version. She has set an example to others that education is the key to achieve your dreams.

The two young female entrepreneurs namely Iqra Nazir and Afshan Burza both MBA graduates defying all odds and making their way for achieving their dreams through their general store. The store provides a complete makeup range, Pro Makeup series, hair and skincare, bath and body, jewellery, accessories, decor, Sanitary and lingerie, appliances and personal care, designer apparels, woman authorized supplements, impulsive bites, gifts and goodies. The store apart from providing quality products and services will have the availability to meet everyday requirement of the customer. In collaboration with small scale women entrepreneurs, the store will be providing important services with the focus on women health which have not been pro casted yet including various sessions on mental health, hygiene, derma and physio sessions along with grooming and makeup session too, for which the date will be announced to the general public soon.

In recent times, the change in political will has been evident from various initiatives of the government and bureaucratic machinery in terms of entrepreneurship centres in the J&K. Focus of the government is clearly on providing opportunities and creating an ecosystem for budding entrepreneurs to connect their ideas with main stream economy. In this cause, Kashmiri women are taking the lead to foster their dreams and contributing towards normalisation and economisation in the valley. The women are making their dream ideas a reality in Kashmir which in turn will inspire other men & women to think beyond their mental boundaries and do their part to make J&K, the crown of India in real sense.