Aarti Rani Saha of Hatbati village in Batiaghata upazila in Khulna has seen success thanks to Polliphone(village phone).

Aarti's life struggle

A new branch of Grameen Bank was established in Batiaghata in 1996, and within a short time, Grameen Bank was able to create a response among the poor people of the village. Aarti Saha also became a member of Grameen Bank's Batiaghata, Khulna branch, as a last resort. She took 3 thousand taka at the initial stage and later invested several times in her husband's business by taking loans. Through this, the tension in the family was somewhat reduced, but he could not repay the loans taken from various NGOs until 1999.

Polliphone (Village Phone)- New Light of Hope.

A surprise came into Aarti Saha's life in 1999 with the adoption of the Polliphone (Village Phone). She was a high school passer, so she learned to operate the phone by herself very easily. Without any hesitation, she once spoke to the founder and managing director of Grameen Bank, Prof. Muhammad Yunus, for several minutes. Thus opened new doors of possibilities for Aarti Saha. Then she started operating Polliphone (Village Phone) herself in Batiaghata Bazar.

Initially, her monthly income was a little low (5/6 thousand taka), but at one point her monthly income stood at 16/17 thousand taka. As a result, her financial solvency as well as her social status increased. Aarti Saha gradually paid off the previous loan of more than 4 lakh taka only with the income of Polliphone (Village Phone). After that, she bought landline phones, prepaid mobile phones, color TVs, and even CD players as a result of her success. Constructed a tin shed house and purchased a cow for better accommodation.

Not only that, she invested 80 thousand taka in her husband's old business from the income of the Polliphone (Village Phone) business and saved 80 thousand taka in the bank. In this way, she has earned more than 8 lakh taka from Polliphone (Village Phone) so far. Aarti and Jaydev Saha - the couple's lives were full of hardships before taking Polliphone(Village Phone). Aarti Saha's success with Polliphone (Village Phone) beats a fairy tale.

Source: Case Study