Navalben, who hails from Nagana village in Banaskantha district, beating all odds started a mini-revolution in her district. According to reports, she created a record by selling milk worth Rs 1.10 crore in 2020, making a profit of Rs 3.50 lakh every month. In 2019, she sold milk worth Rs 87.95 lakh.
In the year 2020, Navalben started a milk company at her home. Now, she has more than 80 buffaloes and 45 cows that meet the milk requirements of people in several villages.
The 62-year-old says she has four sons but they all earn less less than her. She said, “I have four sons who are studying and working in cities. I run a dairy with 80 buffaloes and 45 cows. In 2019, I sold milk worth Rs 87.95 lakh and stood first in Banaskantha district. In 2020, I became the number one woman of Banaskantha by selling milk worth Rs 1 crore 10 lakhs to Amul.”
Navalben, who milks her cows every morning, now has fifteen employees working for her at the dairy.
Amul Dairy Managing Director R S Sodhi published a list of '10 Crorepati Rural Women Entrepreneurs' on Twitter in August 2020. These women associated with dairy farming and animal husbandry earned lakhs of rupees by selling milk to Amul in the financial year 2019-20. The President also recognized the role of these strong women in the success of the world-famous cooperative society.
Navalben was featured in the list in the year 2020 with Rs 87,95,900.67 as her earnings by selling 221595.6 litres of milk. She earned the highest among all 10 women.
Apart from this, she has also received two Lakshmi Puraskars and three Best Pashupalak Puraskars for her achievements in the field of dairy farming in the Banaskantha district.
60 is the average age at which people aspire to retire, but Navalben is running a highly successful and lucrative business, not only feeding herself but also her employees.
Today this woman has become a living example of women empowerment. She is not an educated woman from a big city but living in a small village, providing jobs to other women, as well.
Note: The article was originally reported by Chetna Rajesh Raja, who also hails from Nagana village and was translated in English by Shruti Kandwal.
