Bimala Baruah was a 1st time loan borrower of a financial institution when she took her first loan from Arohan in 2017 to start a poultry business and support her family in Bihupuria, Assam. Over time, her business, as well as her association with Arohan saw gradual growth as she graduated to a higher value customer with an INR 45000 loan. Things changed when the countrywide lockdown was announced due to the global pandemic. The sudden halt in business impacted her income flow severely and she turned into a non-starter customer post the moratorium period in September, 2020. Arohan came to her rescue again with a special restructured product package, called ‘Sakriya’, curated especially for its valued customers to help their accounts get reactivated.

“I feel so relieved now with the ray of hope provided by Arohan during this extremely difficult period”, says Bimala didi. She has now restarted her business with the addition of 300 chickens. She expresses her gratitude to Arohan as she also looks forward to a long and fruitful association with the organisation.

Suraiya Begum is a second cycle customer of Arohan. She had earlier taken a loan of INR 30,000 which after repaying successfully, has now availed for an INR 40,000 loan to support and run her garment business. ‘The pandemic situation has posed some problems for all of us but I have continued to repay my loans on time, because of the savings I had made due to the loan support that I’ve received form Arohan. This helps me save the extra amount that I would have had to pay if I had opted for the moratorium. I hope and want to continue getting support from Arohan’, says Suraiya.

Kanchan Biswal is a 2nd cycle customer of Arohan in Balikuda, Jagatsinghpur District of Odisha. She has a family of three members. She used to run a small dairy business with just two cows and wanted to scale it up to meet her household needs. It was then that she took her first loan of INR 20,000 from Arohan and invested the amount in buying more cows to increase the produce and her income. Today, she has six cows in her dairy farm and her business is doing good enough for her to even engage her husband into the daily activities of the same. She sells the milk produce through OMFED (The Orissa State Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Limited) centers in nearby villages and earns more than INR 1200 per day.

Tapan Ray - is a 4th cycle customer of Arohan Bazaar product. He is a seller from Radhanagar Bazaar in Chandrakona branch. His shop sells ‘Dashakarma’ items for use in pujas and festivals. He took his first loan of INR 15000 from Arohan in 2015 to increase his stock in the shop. In the present cycle he has graduated to higher ticket sizes and has taken INR 50000 and has used this money to help his wife in her saari and garment business which she runs from their home. They have reared their children well. Their daughter has completed her graduation and the son has been enrolled in an aeronautics course.

Smritikana Mandal of age 26, a customer of Behala Branch, West Bengal had only completed her higher secondary education when she got married and her focus shifted to her family. To supplement her family's income, she took to cutting patterns for a local tailor but had always dreamed to be more. An Arohan customer for the last three years she has joined the beauty and wellness course conducted at the Tollygunge Skill Training center funded by Arohan as a part of its Corporate Social Responsibility.

Arnnapurna began her journey with Arohan in the year 2015 with a loan amount of INR 15000 to set up a small grocery shop next to her home. She gradually developed her business and grew with a helping hand from Arohan year after year. Arnnapurna has now been offered her third cycle loan of INR 45000 and a refrigerator for her shop which speaks volumes about her business credentials. She is an independent woman supporting her family with income of upto INR 400 a day. Arnnapurna is blessed with two girls, and takes pride in providing for their entire educational cost. "I am thankful to Arohan for their services. I feel overwhelmed to be a part of their customer group," says Arnnapurna.

Sunita began her journey with Arohan with a loan amount of INR 20,000 to help her husband Subhash set up a small medicine shop next to her home in Unchahar, Lucknow. Together, they gradually developed the shop and grew with a helping hand from Arohan. Availing the easy EMI facility of its cross-sell services, Subhash bought a refrigerator from Arohan’s e-Bazaar platform. This would help him in capacitating his shop with more medicines that requires storage in refrigerators. "I am thankful to Arohan for their services that has helped us in establishing our shop. It feels comforting to know that we have their support", says Subhash.

Shibnarayan Banerjeeis the owner of an electronic store in South Kolkata where they sell all kinds of household electric goods and appliances such as air-conditioners, refrigerators etc. To meet the growing demands of their customers, it was important for him to keep updating the stock at store, and for that to happen he needed funds. This is when IntelleCash, the MSME lending business of Arohan got in touch with him. "The entire loan processing experience was fantastic and completely hassle-free. Loan officers came to my office to collect the necessary papers and within a very short span of time, the loan amount got credited into my account. I’m lucky to be associated with IntelleCash. I look forward to their continued support in making my business stronger", said Mr. Bannerjee.

I had a dairy farm which I found difficult to run but the loan from Arohan has benefited me

I took a loan of Rs 40,000 from Arohan for my fishing business and I have been getting good returns. Profits go upto 15,000 a month

I am a farmer and like many other, generating good crop helps run our households better. With Arohan's help, we receive loans at low interest and source good manure for my crops. I can run my household better now.

I took my loan from Arohan when my business of selling fishes was in great trouble. I used the loan amount to source good quality stock. Now with the help of Arohan, I sell good quality hilsa, as well as other fish.