“The unique quality of the sarees is that they look the same from both the sides and keeps the body cool,” says Sarojini’s husband. Sarojini is associated with CreditAccess Grameen for more than two years now. She lives with her family in the Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh. She belongs to a weaver family of Sambalpuri saris. Sambalpuri saris are made of pure cotton. Sarojini’s family has been in this profession for generations. They are among those few people who are still striving to preserve our country’s priceless culture through their artistic skills.

She came to know about CreditAccess Grameen through her uncle. After learning about Credit Access Grameen’s microfinance program, Sarojini joined the group and availed an Income Generation Loan from CreditAccess Grameen. The collateral-free, and easy to access loans allowed her to buy an advanced handloom. Since then, she has taken several loans from the company to expand her business. She utilized the loan amounts for buying raw materials for her business, such as cotton thread and colours to weave beautiful Sambalpuri saris. “Earlier, I used to earn a smaller amount because of the short width of the loom. On that loom, I could not weave full-length sarees. Now with the new handloom that I bought with the loan provided by Grameen Koota, my income has increased from earning INR 2000 per week to INR 3000.”, says Sarojini while showing her new handloom.

She is pleased about her growth and desires further to expand her business with loans from Grameen Koota. With the betterment in her business, the financial conditions of her house have also improved tremendously. She thanks Grameen Koota for her success.