From Thursday, a lively, dancing, singing, leaping caravan of people will make its way to Mumbai. There will be artisans and weavers, singers and dancers, farmers and shepherds, all gathered by the Mann Deshi Foundation from the State’s Mann region. The Foundation has long harnessed the latent entrepreneurial spirit of rural women. It was founded by Chetna Gala Sinha in Mhaswad, Maharashtra, in 1996 to encourage and support poor rural women to set up and expand businesses. Today, it has burgeoned to include a plethora of programmes, including the Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank, business school, and chamber of commerce, all of which are tailored to fit the contours of village women’s lives.

 

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