9 Rural Indians and Their Inspiring Businesses

Bangalore: The father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi said “India lives in Villages and its true spirits lives in rural areas”. Rural India is the real face of India as it includes over 50 percent of the Indian population. There was a time when rural India was pictured as of wrecked villagers, kids with distended bellies and ragged clothes and a future as grim as the fractured, sun-baked earth. But the picture has changed drastically over the past few years which not only equipped the villagers to find a self sufficient way of living but also made rural India a huge consumer market.

Here is a list of few ordinary rural Indians who have set extra ordinary examples through their innovative business initiatives and strong determinations.

1. Mansukhbhai Jagani

Mansukhbhai Jagani invented a motorcycle based tractor that can plow an acre of land in 30 minutes with two liters of fuel. As the tractor is very much cost effective and costs roughly around 16,500 which makes it easier for the Indian farmers to use it. An attachment was added to the motorbike by Mansukhbhai after four to five years of experiment. He further attached a multi purpose tool bar to the bike which is also adjustable with any 325cc motorcycle by replacing the rear wheel with an assembly unit.

The “super plough” bike is named as Buller Shanti as the bike is a cultivator that pulverizes or smoothens the soil and is locally called Santi. The motor cycle based tractor can also perform other farming activities like furrow opening, sowing, inter-culturing and spraying operations.

2. Pushpa Devi Maurya

Pushpa Devi Maurya joined a self help group around ten years back so that she could help her family to meet their ends in Uttar Pradesh. Today she is a successful manager of a bulk milk chilling centre set up by the milk producers’ company near her village. The centre collects milk from 56 villages and provides on average 2000 liters of milk a day to the state’s milk grid.

Pushpa and 9,000 other women dairy producers came together and formed their own business “Swaayam Ksheer” in November 2011. Each member holds an equity stake in the company and soon hopes to take this membership to 12,000.

3. Ela Bhatt

Bihar has become a place which provides a strong base for rural women to earn their living by leasing solar bulbs to other families. And the entire credit of this achievement goes to Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), and the woman behind the success of SEWA is Ela Bhatt. Ela Bhatt commenced SEWA in 1972 along with Lt. Arvind Buch. Bhatt is a renowned leader in the fields of microfinance and labour. Ela Bhatt has also been awarded the Padmashri, the Padmabhushan as well as the Ramon Magsaysay Award.

4. Mansukhbhai Patel

He is just a high school graduate and he made wonders which many scientists could not think of. Mansukhbhai Patel invented a cotton stripping machine that has drastically cut the cost of cotton farming and revolutionized India's cotton industry. The machine was invented in 1991 and helps in removing cotton from semi opened and unopened shells of various cotton varieties. The machine has also received patents from the United States.

5. Chetna Sinha

From leading India's former rural bank for women, to running a business school, a women's chamber of commerce, farmer-turned-entrepreneur Chetna Sinha has come a long way. Today, the 53-year-old business woman has been successful in not only initiating but also successfully operating three different rural enterprises that are dedicated to the cause of rural women in the country, which includes India's first co-operative bank for rural women, the Manndeshi Mahila Bank. Among many of the mile stones which portray her achievements include in 2002, she was appointed as a World Fellow to Yale University and in 2003; she was also recognized as the Bridge Builder by the Harvard University, USA

6. Manshuk Lal Raghavjibhai Prajapati

You all know that a potter is a creator who creates many beautiful and creative items but many of you don’t know that a potter can also be an inventor and a successful business man. Mansukhbhai Prajapati, a potter, invented a clay non-stick pan that costs 100 and a clay refrigerator that runs without electricity for those who cannot afford a fridge or their electricity and maintenance costs. After gaining much popularity Prajapati is now trying to market his products globally. He also has a website called “Mitticool” which describes about his products and availability.

7. Thinlas Chorol

Having grown up in the mountains, Chorol always was familiar with the environmental conditions of the mountains etc. She started working as a guide and went to trekking expeditions. Gradually tracking became her favorite and she founded the Ladakhi Women’s Travel Company in 2009 to bring more women into the field of travel and mountaineering, and also to promote ecotourism in Ladakh. She is the only Ladakhi woman to be trained to work in the field of mountaineering.

8. Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade

Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade (65) grew up in a small forest village called Nanded in Naghbid taluka of Chandrapur district in Maharashtra. In 1983 Dadaji Ramaji noticed three yellow seeded paddy spikes commonly called as ‘lomb’ planted with the Patel 3 variety of paddy. He picked these three spikes and stored them in a plastic bag. The next year he sowed the seeds of this yellow variety separately in the middle of his field. Today the yellow seeded paddy is popularly known as the HMT rice, a highly successful rice variety which yielded 80 per cent more rice than the conventional variety. HMT is now grown all over India, on 100,000 acres in five states.

9. Chintakindi Mallesham

Chintakindi Mallesham  is the inventor of the Laxmi Asu Machine, that revolutionized India’s weaving community. Mallesham's machine can make six saris of valued material in one day and that too with a single percent of human effort. The invention has been a great help to a large section of rural women who earn their living through weaving saris. The business has been quiet successful and Mallesham has also received many patents for his invention.