Ravi Prasad from UP once earned Rs. 15000, now makes Rs. 1.5 lakh per month selling banana fibre products

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Ravi Prasad from Uttar Pradesh was in college while he lost his father. He had to drop out of college to earn a living for himself, his mother and sister. Earned Rs. 15000 per month doing odd jobs. Few years down the line, he is now running a business of banana fibre products from his village. His monthly revenue is Rs. 1.5 lakh. Ravi from UP’s Kushinagar district shares his struggle to success journey with Empowering Indians.

Ravi, 38, was born to parents where the father was a labourer earning so little that it was tough to manage the household expenses and his mother has been a housewife. Ravi sought his primary education from the village and then went to Gorakhpur for graduation and masters in Economics.

“My father was not able to pay my education fee and I was interested in education. I started working wherever and whatever job I would get to fund my education. I worked with various companies such as Sahara India Press, Hindustan Unilever and others earning between Rs. 10000 and 15000 per month. I would work at night and attend college in the day,” Ravi narrates his struggles.

However, Ravi lost his father to an accident and he had to drop out of his masters degree to go home in Kushinagar.

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The responsibility to earn money and run the house of three of him (mother, sister and him) was making Ravi worried and restless. He was looking for some opportunities in the big cities- Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore etc. One of his friends who was working in Delhi called him and assured him to help him get a job. Little did he know that his Delhi visit will change his course of life from looking for employment to providing employment.

In 2016, Ravi and his friend went to an exhibition at Pragati Maidan in Delhi where artisans across different states in the country display their unique handicraft products for sale. He saw that a stall was showcasing various products made out of banana fibres.

“I was amazed to see those products. A thought popped up in my mind that my village farmers grow bananas a lot and they throw banana residue. I can also replicate the idea of manufacturing banana fibre products in my village. I was inspired by seeing the products,” shares Ravi. Explaining the abundance of banana residues in his district Kushinagar he said about 27,000 hectares of land are used for banana farming in his district.

Ravi requested the seller at the exhibition to help him connect with the trainer. He went to Coimbatore and learnt how to make the banana fibre products. After the training, he gave up the plan to find employment and went back to his native place to start a business of banana fibre products.

Banana fibre products of Ravi Prasad in an exhibition

He consulted a few government officials and artisans in his district and observed that people are appreciating the business idea. The idea was to source the banana residue from the banana farmers in the district and then convert them into fibre and then train the women of the villages from the marginalized community and employ them to make various products out of the banana fibre.

Ravi was looking for loans under the government schemes that lend money for such businesses where employment is created for rural women and men. “The officials liked my idea but the banks were not lending me money to start the business. After running pillar to post for documentation and different banks for months, one bank called Union Bank Of India lent me Rs. 5 lakh under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) scheme,” says Ravi. With the loan, he started Malawa Kela Resha Utpadan Laghu Udyog Kendra in his village.

Ravi bought machines that convert the banana residue into fibres. He also hired an artisan who trained 10 women to make various products out of fibres such as footwear, hats, carpets and bags, slippers, yoga mats, pooja mats etc. All the products are handicraft.

He started selling the products in local markets. The state government also helped him get 500 women trained for him under a scheme. Along with training, women also get daily stipends provided by the government. “The government helped me a lot in training the women. The women used to get Rs. 200 per day as a stipend from the government for seeking the training,” says Ravi.

Late 2018, Ravi started manufacturing banana fibre products. The products also got listed in One District One Product (ODOP), a state government scheme, where his unique handicraft products got selected for state level exhibitions. He is invited to many state and national level exhibitions to showcase and sell his products.

“The response has been great. People are liking banana fibre products. Because of promotions through government websites and exhibitions, I receive orders through calls and messages from across India,” says Ravi.

Ravi said that in exhibitions he manages to earn between Rs. 2 lakh to 3 lakh. “Apart from exhibitions, I also receive orders through calls and messages which makes Rs. 1.5 lakh revenue per month. Now I am doing quite well,” adds Ravi.

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Ravi has created livelihood through his unique business idea in his district for about 100 individuals including men and women. They are from marginalized communities who were earlier earning almost nothing. “Each of them earns around Rs. 6000 per month depending upon how many days they work in a month. Rs. 6000 is good money for them (villagers from marginalized communities) as they are also involved in farming too. They now don’t have financial issues to run their houses,” tells Ravi.

Ravi’s life has changed. Now, he aims big in life. “My life has changed. There were times when my family would struggle for food and now I am creating employment for others. I want to make it big and spread the project across different districts if I receive enough funds,” aims Ravi.