#Shakthi series- Jaswantiben Jamnadas Popat

 

Shakthis Who Shaped our Society

#9 Jaswantiben Jamnadas Popat – An entrepreneur

 

It was a hot humid afternoon in 1959 in Mumbai. A large joint fam lived in a small apartent. The men were doing work but the women wanted to do something to supplement the income in order to improve their lot. They tried to get some employment but did not get any as they were not educated. Suddenly Jaswanti said “Why work for someone? Let us give ourselves jobs.”

Jaswanti with six of her sisters decided to roll out papads and sell them. They made a few packets of the papad that were sold almost immediately. Their original investment was Rs.80 borrowed from a social worker.

Opportunity and the desire to beat poverty was the one thing that was common among these women and many others in that area. The number of women who wanted to participate in this enterprise had already grown in few months. They had one problem though – the long and intense monsoons of Mumbai that made drying the papads difficult. They women found a unique way of drying the papads – a charpai (a jute woven cot) and stoves. To their credit they put their heart into their product and never let the quality slip.

The net work and the fame of the product spread slowly first within Mumbai and then in the western regions of the country. The consistency of the quality and the fact that it was going towards helping needy families appealed to the customer.

Eventually after witnessing the tremendous success of their world-famous papads they tried their hands on khakhra (1974), masala (1976), Vadi, wheat atta, and bakery products (1979) and successfully set up flour mills (1975), printing division (1977) and polypropylene packing division (1978). However, they did continue to have some unsuccessful ventures such as cottage leather (1979), matches (1979), and agarbattis (incense sticks).

Throughout these struggles what made Lijjat papad grow was not only the idea that Jaswabntiben started the business with but also its sustainable model that provided large-scale employment to rural women, who are illiterate but skilled. Indeed, Padmashri holder Jaswantiben Jamnadas Popat deserves the appreciation by the government of India that she received on 26th January 2021, Indian Republic Day for the contribution she made with a business in her own right and continues to lead at 91.

Today Lijjat papad has a turnover of more than Rs.1600 crores selling in India and internationally.

The vision of one woman created wealth and livelihood for so many more and provided the customer a taste of home in far away lands. We salute the Shakthi Jaswantiben for being a successful business woman and providing employment to so many more. Jaswantiben got the Padmashri from the Government in 2021.