Monalisa Patsani
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: Coming to a city with just Rs160 in hand and surviving is no easy task for a woman; it takes courage.
And then to build an enterprise of her dreams takes a lot more than just courage. For 37-year-old Swagatika Rout, life was about struggle towards becoming a textile centre owner. And what’s more, Swagatika now even trains youths to get jobs in the textile sector.
Swagatika hails from Jajpur and was a bright student in school. For higher studies she moved to her maternal uncle’s house, where she had to struggle a lot to finish education.
After graduating in science from Sahidpur College circumstances forced her to move to Bhubaneswar.
“I was the eldest child in my family and was also the most pampered. My father was very supportive and always wanted me to do well in education; my mother used to pray that I fail so that she could fix my marriage. I moved to my maternal uncle’s house to do study, but there I had to struggle a lot,” Swagatika said.
Swagatika was cheated by a friend and that incident changed her life. “After finishing graduation I moved to my village. At that time one of my friends visited my house and told me that she has arranged a job for me in Bhubaneswar but I would have to give Rs40,000 as a deposit. I gave her Rs15,000 and she asked me to go to Bhubaneswar in 15 days for an interview. The interview never happened and she vanished. At that time my only concern was to get my hard-earned money back. So I stayed back to find that girl,” Swagatika said.
During her stay in the city she met Ranjan Rout who helped her a lot and whom she eventually went on to marry. “Ranjan used to work as a construction worker. He was always there as a friend during my struggles. Later we decided to get married but since he was uneducated and had no home, my family didn’t support our marriage. I moved out with my certificates and Rs160 and came to the Temple City,” Swagatika said.
The couple initially tried their hands at small businesses such as a hotel near Rabindra Mandap, a flower shop, vegetable business and a stationeries shop. Swagatika became the backbone of the household.
Her education helped her execute all her plans. “With that Rs160 we somehow managed three days but after that we had nothing. Then Maya di (a close friend), gave us Rs5,000 and with that we started a small hotel near Rabindra Mandap. It somehow helped us to earn our bread and butter.”
At present more than 1,500 SHGs are working under Swagatika with 15 members each. “I got involved with SHGs to help people like me who are in need of support to sustain a respectable living. With my experience I wanted to create a pathway for them,” she said.
Speaking of how she got interested in textile sector, she said: “I love to wear new dresses with new designs, so when I used to give dress materials to tailors of the city, they never used to make to good dresses from that. In 2013, I thought of starting a boutique of my own where I kept good designers and even started imparting training to young girls. The idea clicked and many girls arrived to learn from my boutique.”
This August she started a manufacturing unit, ‘Swatika Apparel’, an integrated skill development scheme training programme for unemployed youth in textile sector under the ministry of textiles of government of India and textile and handicrafts department of the government of Orissa.
“I have seen many youths working in other states without proper skills. Either they work as labourers or security guards but never saw them working in big textile industry as skilled worker. Through this training and manufacturing unit, I want to change the whole concept that Orissa does not have skilled workers. We also make sure that all the trainees get good placement not only in the state but outside the state also.”
At present around 200 girls are taking training in her manufacturing centre and she is now planning to also start a unit at her boutique at Unit 1 where she would give placement to trainees who pass out from Swatika Apparel.