Page 27 - NIS English 01-15 March 2022

Cover Story
Women Power

LAKHIMI BARUA

HAS BECOME A SYMBOL OF

EMPOWERMENT

orhat is famous as the last capital of the Ahom
Jkings, famous for its tea gardens where Lakhimi Empowering Women
Barua was born. Her mother passed away soon after Special assistance was
her birth. The financial condition of the house was given to women during 14 crore refill
weak but her father worked hard to raise her. She was the Covid period. cylinders were
good at studies since childhood. But after the death given free of cost
under PM Garib
of her father in 1969, she dropped out of college. An amount of Kalyan Yojana.
more than
After her marriage in 1973, her husband encouraged
her to study again. Lakhimi graduated in 1980 and `30,000 The limit for giving
collateral-free
became an account manager in the District Central loans to women
Cooperative Bank. It was from here that a new life Crore was self-help groups
of Lakhimi started, for which she not only earned the transferred, during has been increased
fame in Assam but all over the nation. During her April-June 2020 to from Rs 10 lakh to
the account of 20
Rs 20 lakh
job, she noticed that poor, uneducated women of crore women.
the villages and women working in the tea gardens
have to wait in queue for hours to get loans. She was in 1990. She had to struggle for 8 years for registration.
moved by the plight of these women. On reaching the The bank which is now more than two decades old has
counter, they would have to return empty-handed due 4 branches, having around 45,000 account holders. Only
to the incomplete documents. Taking inspiration from women get employment in the bank. The Government of
this, she formed a Mahila Samiti in Jorhat in 1983 India has honored Lakhimi Barua with the Padma Shri
and started the Kanaklata Mahila Cooperative Bank award in 2021.

New India Samachar March 1-15, 2022 25