Enterprising lady rekindles spirit of survival for many
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, April 09 2021: For entrepreneur Renu Arambam, success is measured not only by the growth of one's proficiency/expertise in one's chosen fields but also by the deeds of love and humanity one lends to the underprivileged sections of the society.

Apart from being a successful entrepreneur, Renu has brought back smiles to hundreds of widows and orphans from different communities.

Irrespective of caste, creed and communities, this 47 year old woman from Mantripukhri Marcy Land, Imphal West has been providing handloom and handicrafts training to widows, orphans and aged people who have been neglected by their families.

The underprivileged trainees are also being given free food and lodging in the hostels which are run by the Renu Handlooms and Handicrafts Cooperative Society Limited besides appropriate wages.

"The main objective of establishing Renu Handlooms and Handicrafts Cooperative Society Limited and opening training centres is not merely profits, but also to make underprivileged women and interested persons learn handlooms and handicrafts for self-employment and self-reliance", she added.

She went on to state that work and humanity are the two aphorisms of life which enable her reach the present state.

Conveying that her father passed away when she was very young and endured much hardships during her early phase of life, the lady asserted that she could not see the pangs and agonies of needy people, specially destitute women.

Renu has already made a name for herself and her achievements are quite significant and commendable.

She started her enterprising work alone by using just a sewing machine and a monetary amount of Rs 18,000 which had been awarded by Urban Bank of India when she participated in a handloom and handicrafts training course at DIC, Lamphel in the late 1980s and stood in the first place.

She maintained that she gradually procured more sewing machines through the savings from 'marup' and later started engaging other women in her enterprise.

With the progression of her enterprising work, Renu Handlooms & Handicrafts Cooperative Society Limited was established in 2004 with 110 other women who are mostly widows.

The society has now set up a total of 47 work sheds where more than 4,700 people are working besides opening multiple showrooms in and outside the State, including Guwahati, Kohima and Bangladesh.

She had also achieved multiple awards including National Awards from President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for her excellence in promotion of handloom and handicrafts products of the State.

The soft spoken lady asserted that the products of Renu Handloom & Handicrafts Society are widely known and highly demanded in and outside the State.

The society is unable to meet the demands of the customers and marketing agencies like Amazon and India Mart.

Citing lack of funding for procuring raw materials and other logistics as the major hindrances in the progression of handlooms and handicrafts enterprise of her society, Renu said that running 47 work sheds and training centres on top of multiple showrooms involves a huge capital.

Further highlighting the challenges faced by her enterprising work, Renu said that repaying huge loans from banks which had been incurred in the establishment of multiple hostels and investments in connection with her enterprise made her very much worried at many instances.

"During the time of Covid pandemic, when the functioning of my enterprise was completely derailed, I used to seek help from others like beggars in order to feed the trainees in my training centres and hostels", she added.

She continued lamenting that the dearth of capital has led her society to lose multiple opportunities to take up several initiatives like opening yarn dealer shop in the past although the Government of India has granted permission for the same.

Asserting that she has already set up the Renu Charitable Trust and further plans of opening a cattle farm at Pangei where elderly people neglected by their families would be taken care of, the lady deplored that lack of funds has been impeding her plan.

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