Freedom for the food ladies
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COMMENTS 
Impoverished women in Mumbai's textile mill area use their culinary skills to become self-sufficient.
Fed up of struggling to make ends meets, a group of impoverished, unskilled women living in Mumbai's textile mill area decided to capitalise on the only skill they possessed -- cooking. In order to feed their families these women had pawned their jewellery or had taken loans from grocer-moneylenders at exorbitant rates of interest. Many of these women were underpaid mill workers who had lost their jobs and started small home-based trades.
The women got together to form the Annapurna Mahila Mandal. They began by preparing simple meals for migrant textile workers, charging them on a monthly basis.
A fiery young local social worker called Prema Purao stepped in to help the women and convinced a bank to provide loans to the khanawallis (food ladies). Initially, 14 women were given Rs 1,500 each at 4 per cent interest.
The loans freed them from the clutches of the grocer-moneylenders. Unable to exploit the women through high interest rates any more, the grocers refused to sell them groceries. The women switched to wholesale purchase of provisions at cheaper rates. Within no time, they managed to repay their loans and procure second loans to purchase the necessary apparatus for large-scale catering operations.
Annapurna first began catering services from Prema's kitchen. Their first customer was the Bank of Baroda. Soon they were supplying around 500 tiffins and acquired a flat for their operations. From modest rice and dal meals, the women graduated to taking orders for Chinese dishes, sweets and savouries.
Soon the Mandal diversified its activities. Women were trained in sewing, catering and accounting, making them self-sufficient. A credit society was inaugurated, which gave hassle-free loans to needy shareholders. Daily loans are given to vegetable and fish vendors at a weekly interest payment.
Today, an initiative that began with just 14 women in 1975, has grown into an extraordinary grassroots movement, touching the lives of over 150,000 women from the lowest economic rungs in Mumbai, Pune, Belgaum, Marathwada and other places.
Contact: Annapurna Mahila Mandal
10, Navnit, 125, Ram Maruti Rd
Dadar, Mumbai 400 028
Maharashtra, India
Tel: 91-22-430 4474/430 8874