In her simple and crumpled sari, Rita Mahato doesn’t quite look like a successful entrepreneur. But make no mistake — she is one, and has dreams of changing lives in her village in West Bengal.

Water was a scarce and treasured commodity in Tamna village, 10km from Purulia town, till Mahato found a way to sell safe drinking water at an affordable price.

She knew the importance of safe water, having worked with the government’s flagship Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme in Tamna, to spread awareness about health education, nutrition and immunisation.

When she joined the Centre’s cleanliness drive Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, helming her village’s self-help group (SHG) Drutogami Mahila Sangho Bahumukhi Prathamik Shomobay Samiti, she convinced 165 families in her village to build toilets.

But toilets need water, and Purulia is one of the most drought-prone districts of West Bengal, receiving less than 140 cm rain yearly on an average.

Moreover, it is difficult to revive the water-bodies in Purulia and almost all water sources dry up in peak summer. Most people buy water from shops at high prices to meet their daily demands.

“When I went to the villagers’ homes to convince them about building toilets, I realised people face great difficulties in getting adequate supply of safe drinking water, especially in urban areas. That is when the idea of selling safe drinking water clicked,” she says.

Profit, she says, was not on her mind, but making safe water available was. She discussed the issue with members of her SHG. A team went to the district administration for suggestions. They were apprehensive how they would be received, but found the officials surprisingly receptive.

“They told us about a water vending machine that could purify water at a low cost and would fit our potential business model,” she says.

The project was then discussed at the District Rural Development Cell (DRDC), which gave a go-ahead, says Purulia I block development officer Tapan Bandopadhya, who assisted the SHG in availing funds for their projects.

The group decided to buy a water-vending machine, but was unsure whether the SHG would be willing to part with its fund money collected over time from members.

“Their concerns were genuine. When you take away a large amount of hard-earned savings from the SHG fund, there are bound to be apprehensions about the success of the project. Especially for those like us who have never ventured into business before. It was intimidating,” Mahato says.

She needed to prepare a business plan, but that was not easy for someone who has studied only till Std VIII. She made a list of clients who were sure to buy water from her machine and those who were likely to.

“Mahato may not be well-educated. But her strong points are her passion for hard work, her powers of observation and her daring streak. When she came to the block office with the others, she noticed that there was a paucity of safe drinking water even in the government offices. She sensed there was an opportunity and she seized the moment,” says Bandopadhya.

The project, called Jeevan Dhara, cost ₹5.5 lakh and was ultimately funded by the SHG. Mahato says that while the water vending machine cost ₹ 3.17 lakh, the group spent another ₹1.45 lakh on drilling into the earth and putting in place a water pipeline attached to the machine, which was installed three years ago in Purulia town.

“The machine first purifies the water, which is then packed in clean and sanitised bottles and sold,” she says.

The SHG members, 20 women from economically weak households, decided to join Mahato in running the business. The group was trained by the company selling the machine on how to operate the system. At a time, three women operate the machine and look after the sales. The business opens at 10 am and continues for six hours.

Beginning with 30-40 clients, the project Jeevan Dhara, with its USP of providing safe, clean drinking water at affordable rates, has 100 clients today. The bottled water is regularly bought by local administration offices, and for marriage parties, government functions and other events. Their 20-litre bottle is sold at ₹15, which is considerably cheaper than most varieties of bottled water available in the market.

The group makes a profit of ₹20,000 a month. Working six hours a day, all the SHG members, including Mahato, earn ₹120 per day. The profits go back to the SHG fund.

The group has also ventured into supplying packaged food to hospital patients, making a profit of ₹5,000 per month. They prepare food as per the diet charts provided by the hospitals.

The water machine has inspired the people of Tamna, a village of 1,400 people, to dream further. Mahato is seen as a torchbearer by the 700 women of the village, where the literacy rate among women is about 38 per cent.

“One has to think, anyway, so why not think big,” Mahato asks.

Rakhee Roytalukdar was in Purulia as part of UNICEF’s South Asian Women in Media initiative

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