23 years old Rhucheu Marhu was awarded the most enterprising SHG woman on March 8 during the International Women’s Day 2024 at The Heritage, Kohima. The felicitation was jointly organised by Department of Social Welfare, Department of Women Resource Development, Nagaland State Commission for Women, Nagaland State Rural Livelihoods Mission and State Hub for Empowerment of Women – Mission Shakti.
Rhucheu Marhu is a 23-year-old woman from Nicukehou SHG under Chuwe VLO of Lasumi Village, Pfutsero Block under Phek District. She hails from a humble family of cultivator parents and is the seventh child among nine children. She got married to Prewe Marhu and has a 5-year-old child.
Mharhu started her journey opening a petty shop in April of 2018 with a Rs. 370000/- borrowed from family members. With the revenue she earned, she invested more on stocks and upgraded to running a General store selling variety of products based on consumers’ needs such as vegetables, utilities, personal care products, food supplies and many more.
The young entrepreneur is also skilled in food processing business and has been making banana juice since childhood where she sells at her shop to increase her source of income.
With the intervention of NSRLM, FSSAl registration was completed for her food business with emphasis on hygiene, better bottling, branding, labelling & packaging of the juice. She also received seed capital of Rs. 40,000/- under PMFME to expand her juice making business. The turnover from her juice making business is approximately Rs. 750,000 per annum and the turnover of her General Store for the past two years has amount to Rs. 48,50,000.
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While the drastic rise in profit may seem idealistic, Mharhu’s General Store is located at a very strategically at Lasumi village which caters to consumers from her village as well as from the surrounding villages like Leshemi, Zapami etc. It becomes more convenient for consumers to come to this village and purchase goods from her store rather than visiting the District Headquarters.
Today, the young mother has also hired a full-time employee to help run her General Store as it becomes quite challenging to cater to consumers during peak hours.
With the success that Rhucheu has achieved in running a business, she has motivated her peers, including the young and old, to take up business and entrepreneurship to dispel the notion that as long as one is not a government employee, one is not employed. Her ideal and approach has inspired many women in her community to work towards self-reliance and empowerment.
