Sheohar, Bihar: In the heart of rural Bihar, Geeta Devi’s journey from financial hardship during the COVID-19 lockdown to building a thriving ice-cream business stands as a powerful testament to women’s entrepreneurship and resilience.
In 2020, when the nationwide lockdown brought life to a standstill, Geeta’s husband, Vijay Kumar, was stranded in Punjab. With five children to feed and no steady income, the family in Hathsar village (Purnia block, Sheohar district) faced severe poverty. Geeta, who had joined the JEEViKA Self-Help Group (SHG) in 2017, refused to give up. She began selling milk and handmade fans to support her household.
Her turning point came when she saw a video of a relative running an ice-cream unit. Drawing inspiration, Geeta decided to start her own small-scale ice-cream production from the courtyard of her home. With training and initial support from the JEEViKA programme, she launched “Sagar Ice Cream,” offering affordable flavours such as vanilla, mango, butterscotch, apple, and strawberry, priced between ₹5 and ₹130.
What started as a modest home-based operation soon gained momentum. Her monthly earnings, which were initially between ₹10,000 and ₹20,000, grew steadily as local demand increased. Today, Geeta’s enterprise records a monthly turnover of ₹2 to 2.5 lakh, translating to an annual turnover of ₹30 to 35 lakh.
Her success extends beyond personal gains. Geeta now runs a network of 18 vendors and provides livelihood support to 20–25 families in her village. She has invested in modern machinery, including deep freezers, and secured a bank loan to scale up operations. The family’s ice-cream business, which began with an investment of ₹5–6 lakh, is now valued at over ₹30 lakh.
Geeta’s achievements have earned her recognition as a ‘Lakhpati Didi’ under the central government’s initiative to empower women from Self-Help Groups to earn at least ₹1 lakh annually. She has also been felicitated at an innovation programme by IIM Calcutta.
With her husband now back home, the couple is planning to establish a full-fledged factory that will create more employment opportunities in the region. Their children are now studying in good schools, and the family enjoys financial stability.
Geeta Devi’s story is not just about business success—it is about determination, community support, and the transformative power of government schemes like JEEViKA. She often encourages other rural women to take up entrepreneurship through self-help groups, highlighting how skill-building, micro-loans, and self-confidence can turn adversity into opportunity.
In a state where rural women are increasingly emerging as change-makers, Geeta Devi has set a shining example of grassroots economic empowerment and self-reliance.
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