tEA officials with Women Street Vendors on October 15.
Our Correspondent
Kohima | October 15
The Entrepreneurs Associates (tEA) conducted the ‘Uplifting Women Street Vendors Programme’ for the women street vendors at its main office in Kohima on October 15.
Neikule Doulo, Executive Director of tEA apprised the women on the organization’s motivation behind the institution of the Uplifting Women Street Vendors Programme and initiating the provision of zero interest loans.
She stated that this support sprung forth during the Covid-19 pandemic when majority of the street vendors’ businesses were in complete disarray. The zero interest loans served as a window for the women to restart their businesses and recoup what they had lost. She also stressed on how women street vendors in Nagaland are decades in their profession of vending but witness very little to no growth in their businesses due to lack of financial cognizance.
She also recounted on how tEA had paid the daily wage of the street vendors for the day during its initial steps of implementing the Programme in 2017 to demonstrate the seriousness and commitment of the project. She concluded her speech with a word of encouragement on how the women should continue saving to avail bigger loans in the future.
All four of the beneficiaries were recipients of the zero interest loans. This financial support will be instrumental in expanding the inventory of their current businesses, further enabling them to afford a quality lifestyle for their respective families.
The programme was moderated by Sentinaro Walling, Supervisor of the Entrepreneurs Associates Thrift and Credit Cooperatives Federation Limited.
Walling spoke on the need for women street vendors to habituate savings, especially since it is their first time receiving the loan. If they continue to save diligently, they will be able to pool in enough resources to support their families and expand their businesses, she said and also highlighted different schemes and attractive interest rates offered to savers under its cooperative vertical, which is registered under the Government of Nagaland.
Uplifting Women Street Vendors Prog
The Uplifting Women Street Vendors Programme is a flagship program of The Entrepreneurs Associates, launched in October 2017, to empower women involved in the network of marketing farm produce. The program is unique to tEA and one of a kind in the entire NER India. It engages with women street vendors, producers who also sell their yields and aggregators who link rural products with the urban markets.
Till date, tEA has trained and worked with 10000+ women street vendors in Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh with plans to branch out to other neighboring states in the upcoming days. Under the program, tEA has been providing training on financial and business management, skills training, zero interest loans, health and legal services, mentorship and linkages to markets.
tEA hopes that by 2025, more women street vendors will be impacted under the programme.
