The Entrepreneurs Associate (tEA) organised a program on ‘Uplifting Women Street Vendors’ at the Red Cross Building, Raj Bhavan Road, Kohima on Monday where 16 women street vendors received the Interest Free Loans.
During the program, Head of Communications, tEA, Neikule Doulo, said that the program had become a reality after studying the situation of vegetable vendors over a prolonged period. She informed that the training which began with 16 women in Kohima had now spanned successfully to three states, inclusive of skills trainings.
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Street Vendor Lonyi Yalie, a widow with three young children, sharing about her association with tEA, said that she was extremely happy because the support from The Entrepreneurs Associate has enabled her to provide a decent life for her family. She said that tEA transformed her life by giving access to better financial and market linkages.
The Interest Free Loans disbursed at Kohima was supported by the Caring Friends Group, Mumbai. Over 1000+ women from Nagaland and Manipur had received these Zero interest Loans since 2021 from the organisation that enables women vendors to expand their businesses. The Zero Interest loans were initiated under the Uplifting Women Street Vendors Program post pandemic when tEA observed that its women street vendors had exhausted their savings and over 91% of the women shared their inability to relaunch their businesses.
As part of the ongoing program to empower and uplift women street vendors across North East India, tEA is training and working with over 6500+ women in Nagaland, Manipur, and Assam.
CEO Neichute Doulo encouraged the 60 women street vendors present in the meeting and reminded them to plan and ‘Pay themselves first’, and to set aside money for their future through consistent savings. He added that his experiences as a shop owner in his earlier years taught him to be consistent and provide quality service to the customers, which all vendors must be extremely mindful of.
Further, Duolo urged the women to think of long-term saving and planning rather than short term, he also highlighted the importance of investing your money into the right sector.
Kezhosano Kikhi, panel lawyer from the Nagaland State Legal Services Authority, educated the women about the Street Vendors Act and its current status in Nagaland, an overview of the act. She also encouraged the women to organise themselves into pressure groups to fight for their rights and betterment.
The programme also marked the introduction SAIL – Specialised Accelerated Intensive Learning, which will provide intensive business inputs to the women. Operations Supervisor, The Entrepreneurs Associate Chunjanglu Gracy, talked about the in-depth explanation on proper budget planning and management of capital to the vendors. The SAIL program targets to impact 200 promising women with the potential for adopting improved systems and technologies with focused attention to help them progress and achieve economic prosperity sooner.
The session was chaired by tEA’s Community Mobiliser Azonuo Chietsu and the invocation was pronounced by Bendang Walling, Pastor, Kohima Baptist Church.
Read more: tEA Dimapur branch provides zero interest loans to 10 women street vendors
