A small venture selling turmeric powder, started by seven trafficking survivors in North 24-Parganas, has just completed a year. The women are part of a self-help group called Suhasini.
They buy raw turmeric from a wholesale market and rent a grinding machine to grind it before selling the powder in 100gm packs.
For the first few months after starting the business in September 2021, the group sold around 50 packs per month. Now, the number has gone up to around 200 packs per month.
The volume may still be minuscule in terms of business but the growth has instilled confidence in the women who want to lead a life of dignity and financial independence.
“When they started the venture, not only did they face taunts from neighbours and villagers, but their family members were also uneasy with the idea of women starting a business. Now, the family members seek their advice before any major decision,” said Falguni Mahato, a social worker with Teghoria Institute For Social Movement, an NGO that works for the rehabilitation of trafficking survivors.
Mahato has been mentoring the members of Suhasini since its inception. The women belong to different areas of Sandeshkhali, a pocket of the Sunderbans in the Basirhat subdivision in North 24-Parganas.
Like similar pockets in the South 24-Parganas, Sandeshkhali is also vulnerable to storms and cyclones. Besides the vagaries of weather, the area is also vulnerable to trafficking.
Some of the women who are part of the Suhasini self-help group were minors when they were trafficked.
One of them was trafficked to a brothel in Delhi in 2012 when she was 14.
She was rescued a year later. Now, the woman is one of the driving forces behind the business.
“I understood nothing of business. But I was desperate to make the most of the opportunity. Primarily, I wanted to prove my worth to myself,” said the woman, now married and a mother of a three-year old boy.
