Daltonganj: Gone are the days when members of the Dalit community were not allowed to fetch drinking water from community wells or ponds. Interestingly, when there is a dearth of water with weaker monsoons coupled with the lack of government supply, people often buy packaged drinking water from the particular community, who have now become self-made entrepreneurs and traders.The story of Sunaina Devi from Sowa village of the Imamnagar Barewa panchayat is one full of grit and beating both caste and gender stereotypes to run a successful packaged drinking water business. Wife of Sikender Paswan, Sunaina is a Dalit and running her trade at Haidernagar.Talking to TOI, she said, I am a Paswan. I understand the challenges. There are many babu sahibs (Rajputs) miyan ji and even backward class community traders who own reverse osmosis (RO) water plants in Haidernagar, making my competition tough.Sunaina further said, Despite the tough competition, I managed to sell 25 to 30 jars of safe and filtered drinking water daily. People like my brand Neha Shudh Jal. I have faced no other problems, so far.On how she started the business, she said, My son studies in Patna. He always used to tell me that selling packaged water is profitable. So, I decided to go for it. She appreciated the Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) for its support and encouragement in setting up her plant. Through the JSLPSs Kalyan Ajivika Sakhi Mandal, I got a loan of Rs 2,40,000 to set up the plant.Bimlesh Kumar Shukla, the JSLPS programme manager of Palamu district and stationed in Daltonganj, said, We stand with Sunaina Devi. She is our example of a success story.He also said, Sunaina Devi used to sew and stitch clothes in the beginning but could not earn enough to feed her family. She told us about her husbands bad health, following which she became the sole breadwinner of the family. We motivated her to start an RO water plant and provided Rs 2.4 lakh loan as she is a Kalyan Ajivika Sakhi Mandal member. Sunaina added, The loan I took was not enough to set up the plant so I applied for another Rs 6 lakh bank loan. I can repay my monthly loan instalments. I still need a generator set as the power supply in the area is erratic. My plant produces 1,000 litres of water per hour.

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