Int’l Women’s Day Special: Breaking Stereotypes, Shahnaza 3 Other Women Run Milk Processing Plant at Udhampur

Jammu: “Being informed is being empowered. We cannot change our lives by sitting at home,” says Shahnaza, the brain behind the ‘Milk Processing Unit’ at Nadaso Kud Chenani in Udhampur district.

Shahnaza, along with three other women, has proven that with pure passion for work one can be a true inspiration for everyone all around.

Talking exclusively with GNS, Shahnaza said that I live in a place where job opportunities are almost nil, and with the day-to-day increase in financial crisis, I came forward to help my family, and it was Umeed (scheme) which showed me the right direction to fight my hardest battles, and within no time, I had achieved that much, which even I would have never otherwise dreamt of.

She said we sell cheese, Kalari, curd, and milk from the plant, besides we are supplying to different hotels in and around Patnitop, and the unit is easily making a sale of 3 to 4 thousand rupees a day – and is increasing day by day.

Sahahnaza recalls that the initial days were challenging when she alongside her colleagues started to work in a male-dominated society, but slowly things started working smoothly for us and the result is in front of all today.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, she says that “More than education, you need the willingness to chase your dreams. The rest will follow.”

“Financial independence makes a lot of difference in a woman’s life”, says Shahnaza. (GNS)