The first leg of Tata Jagritiyatra…

Tata Jagritiyatra was the initiative taken by the Jagriti Sewa Sansthan which is an organization headquartered in Mumbai (India). The theme of the yatra (Journey) was to visit different places across India where common people are working differently for the upliftment of the society. The motto was to awaken the entrepreneurial spirit of the youths so as to enable them to generate employment and bring development. Tata was the main sponsor of the whole yatra. The journey started on 24th december 2008 and ended on 11th january 2009. There were many organizations that constituted the part of the journey. The first was the Shri Mahila Gram Udyog Lijjat Papad (SMGULP).

The first leg of Tata Jagritiyatra was in Mumbai (India) at the magnificent campus of IIT powai and was organized by the Ecell coordinators. A team of the SMGULP was asked to give a brief idea of their startup and the journey thereafter. SMGULP was a cooperative system controlled by women where women over the age of 18 could become members. Its foundation was laid a few decades ago and was the brain child of seven gujarati house wives. These ladies wanted to generate sustainable income for their family and the only thing they were good at was cooking. So they collaborated with each other and with an initial capital of Rs 80 started making Papads (Indian dish). In 2002 the annual turnover of SMGULP was Rs 3 billion and exports worth Rs 100 million.

Lijjat was the collective effort of the women and even now women are the owners. Men are only salaried employees and has no ownership rights in Lijjat. Lijjat believes in the philosophy of Sarvodaya and collective ownership. Lijjat is largely responsible for empowering women and had taken many initiatives to literate women and their families. All women are considered equal and are treated as the owner. The decisions are based on the consensus and any women has the right to veto the decision. The organization as of now is employing 42000 people in 62 divisions across India.

There are many organizations in the world but there is no one like Lijjat where women are given ownership and has a respectable position in the organization. Their entrepreneurial achievement is way beyond understanding and has reached the acme of success. If seven women could do wonders by thinking differently why not other women. The model of the Lijjat should be studied by everyone who aspire to become an entrepreneur.

To learn more about the organization visit the link below:

http://www.lijjat.com