Keisham Babita awarded 'Vasundhara NE Woman Entrepreneur of the Year'
Source: The Sangai Express

Guwahati, April 09 2017: Keisham Babita Devi of Nagamapal Paonam Leikai, Imphal West, has been awarded "Vasundhara NE Woman Entrepreneur of the Year" for Manipur for the year 2014-15 in a function held at Pragjyoti ITA Centre for Performing Arts, Machkhowa on April 8 .

The event was organised by Sreemanta Sankar Mission of Guwahati and has become a benchmark of excellence for women entrepreneurs of the NE region, including Sikkim, and this year, Nagaland has been selected as the focus State of the event.

Keisham Babita Devi is an entrepreneur.

She saw problems faced by artisans of Manipur and turned the problem into a prospect.

Keisham Babita awarded 'Vasundhara NE Woman Entrepreneur of the Year'

After observing Manipuri artisans especially those working with Kauna and other natural fibres whose activities were in bits and pieces and with no sustainable business, she thought of making their products export worthy and suitable for high-end clients.

She took it as a challenge and started doing value addition in those products.

Her area of interest Kauna is a natural fiber and she started blending Kauna with other natural fiber like palm, jute, shital pati etc.

Starting with Kauna, her products now comprise of 4 to 5 grasses found indigenously in the North East India.

Her unit M/S Natural Textile and Collection set up in 2005 lays stress on ensuring regular work for the artisans and increasing their productivity besides doing business by making products from raw materials that are abundantly found locally.

The Vasundhara � NE Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award is annually conferred on eight nominated women entrepreneurs from each State of NE India on the basis of their achievements.

The brightest among them is chosen for the coveted regional award which carries a cash award of Rs 25,000 along with a winner's trophy, an eri shawl and a plaque.

This year, the Vasundhara � NE Woman Entrepreneur of the Year awardees, as selected by the jury, are Radha Devi Gurung of Sikkim, Taba Yall Nabam of Arunachal Pradesh, Kevisedenuo Margaret Zinyu of Nagaland, Keisham Babita Devi of Manipur, Zoramchhani Ralte of Mizoram, Sumitra Debbarma of Tripura, Janessaline Mary Pyngrope of Meghalaya and Najitara Bori of Assam.

Sreemanta Sankar Mission of Guwahati, a voluntary organization set up in 1986 at Guwahati envisions a greater Northeastern society.