Government of India
Kolpona Marak
State : Meghalaya
District : West Garo Hills
Block : Tikrikilla
Village : Napakgre
Self-Help Group : Women’s Self Help Group
Livelihood Activities : Online Cyber services, Commercial vehicle renting
Lakhpati Didi Journey
Kolpona Marak belongs to Napakgre village of West Garo Hills, Meghalaya. After joining in Self Help Groups, she received various training on economic opportunities. Her days were spent in hard labour, earning just a mere wage.
Kolpona decided to start a small business to open Online Cyber services by providing basic services to the people around there. So, she decided to purchase a Computer, Photocopy machine as there was no online service provider in her surrounding villages but the issue she faced was that there was no fund to start the business, she took loan of Revolving Fund (RF) Rs. 17,500 and Community Investment Fund (CIF) of Rs. 30,000. Using this fund, she has given many services to the people of that area. Through this business Kolpona became successful and now she is financially independent and has not only repaid the loan but also started saving the money. Through her active and appreciable work, she became an ICRP member. Kalpana’s annual income crossed one lakh rupees. But Kolpona’s journey didn’t stop there. Kolpona had another plan to buy a commercial vehicle. She took a loan from Village Organisation amount of Rs. 2,60,000 (Two Lakh Sixty thousand Rupees) and bought the Mahindra Pick up vehicle to run her commercial business, with this she has become a successful entrepreneur today and currently she also provides services of Customer Service Point Mini Kiosk Banking. She is currently running a good business and earning annual income of more than Rs. 3,50,000.
