Chandrima Sonowal Deka was born to a farmer in Dhemaji district of Assam. Years after her marriage into another family of farmers in Morigaon district, Chandrima decided to carve her own identity. In 2012, she became a post office agent for Recurring Deposits and has been instrumental in educating villagers about various post office schemes.
Owing to the success of Chandrima’s microfinance strategy, more women have joined this group and today there are approximately 200 women.
In 2014, she got together 10 village women who wanted to start micro enterprises. Initially, each used to make a monthly contribution of Rs 100. Each of the 10 women got a chance to utilize the total amount for a month (on a rotational basis) and consequently they could invest in goats, pigs etc that were utilized for commercial rearing.
Owing to the success of Chandrima’s microfinance strategy, more women have joined this group and today there are approximately 200 women.
“I believe that financial independence and robust health are two pillars of a healthy society. I am a volunteer of a rural health awareness prorgamme undertaken by the GNRC hospital of Guwahati,” says Chandrima. Her association with this programme has benefitted the people in her village as they can avail of free ambulance services (from GNRC) and a 22% discount on all medical procedures.
