Amela Biswas generated employment through exploring local potentials

Amela Biswas from Narail district, 50 years old housewife, has four children. When she got married to Mr. Kanailal Biswas a fisherman, she was very poor. They were starving. They were looking for ways out to overcome that stressful situation. Amela Biswas is much thoughtful, always explores opportunities for earnings. She started rearing chickens and birds to augment her household income. She got success and it led her to take another venture of beef fattening. In 1995-96, she took a loan of Tk. 4000 from JCF and gave her husband to start shrimp farming. Along with that money, she invested an amount of Tk. 20,000 for that venture. Now at present, the capital of this shrimp farming is about Tk. 1 lac. Her husband and one son are devoted to this venture. In her journey towards success, she accumulated some money, which she provided to another son to start fish trading. Her son buys fish from Jessore district and sells in the local market of Narail district.

Having such successes she thought a larger scale uplift of her economic condition. As such in 2010 she contributed to establishing a grocery shop for her son along with her brother. That grocery shop started with an amount of Tk. 3.5 lac where an amount of Tk. 50 thousand was invested by taking an ‘Agrosor’ loan from JCF. Now, this business has Tk. 10 lac as capital. In this grocery shop, salary-based full-time employment has been created.

It was not an easy task for Amela to carry on several economic activities along with maintaining day-to-day household affairs. So she gradually extended her household-related income-generating activities and lastly involved her son and brother in the grocery shop. So from her initiatives employment has been created for five persons including salaried employment and self-employment for four members of the household.