Smt Lalita Devi Jain, fondly called Madhu Jain is one of the leading women entrepreneurs of the North East region of India. She was born in the business family of Sri Tarachand Agarwal in Mankachar a small town of Assam bordering Bangladesh & Meghalaya. After her graduation, she got married to Sri Shanti Kumar Jain, a mechanical engineer by profession. Sri Jain himself a very humble person chose to stay with his wife at his adopted village Rajapara near his native place Palasbari, around 50km from Guwahati to earn their livelihood. Weaving has been a way of life in Assam since time immemorial. Tradition has it that the skill to weave was the primary qualification of a young girl for her eligibility for marriage. Smt. Lalita Devi Jain came up with a noble concept of providing the tribal people of Rajapara with some source of sustenance whereby they can be self-sufficient and develop socio-economically.
She identified the ethnic apparel worn by the women folk of Assam commonly known as Mekhla Chadar which is made up of Muga and silk variety produced in Assam. She realized the potential of the local women weaver and thought to engage them to earn some livelihood to improve their living conditions. She selected mostly widows, orphans unemployed girls from the locality and trained them to create rich fabric made up of traditional Muga and Silk. It was a fusion of the ethnic era with the modern era. The market was astounded to see this skilful blend which enriched the quality of the fabric. It was indeed a bold step from a lady who never had formal training to create and design this unique blend in traditional fabric. She started with five looms and over the period of last more than 25 years, she has built up 50 looms. Almost 200 women are employed and they all have become part of the family to create the brand of Madhushree. At present the brand has its own design centre of 1500sq feet in the heart of Guwahati city and a production centre at Rajapara. Over the years the reputation of Madhushree has reached the far-flung regions in the country and many Central and State Ministers, bureaucrats and dignitaries have visited its production centre to get first-hand experience of the product. Her work and talent have been appreciated and recognized at different forums and she has been honoured by several organizations for her achievements. FLO- the ladies' wing of FICCI felicitated her as one of the 25 women entrepreneurs in the country in 2009. She has been awarded the National Award 2008 -Special Recognition award for outstanding performance by Govt of India, Ministry of MSME. Nominations have been invited from her for the 10th edition of the Businessworld-FICCISEDF Corporate Social Responsibility Award-2009.
She is the recipient of the International Women Entrepreneur Challenge Award hosted by the Cape Town Chamber of Commerce, South Africa.
Brief Company Details: Name: Madhushree Regd Address: Rajapara, Kamrup, Assam-781135
Shared by Ms.Madhu Jain, Owner of Madhushree Regd.
Posted by Dr. Rumi Borah