Housewife-entrepreneur becomes inspiration for hundreds in Baguiati

Kolkata: Mita Mukherjee, a women entrepreneur in her early 30s, has become a household name in Baguiati and its neighbourhood for door-to-door selling of frozen meat products from Haringhata.

Mukherjee, a housewife who is an MA in Bengali from Rabindra Bharati University, has become a source of inspiration for many women of the area. The business fetches her anything between Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 per week.

It may be mentioned that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while talking to students, especially girls, has always urged them to get involved in business. Mukherjee had earlier opened a shop called Health Diet in Baguiati, to sell frozen meat from Haringhata and was doing well.

Two years ago she bought an e-rickshaw fitted with a freezer to supply frozen meat products that include chicken, rabbit, dressed duck, lamb, pork and quail eggs. Swapan Debnath, minister for Animal Resources Development, Pradip Mazumdar and Mala Saha had handed over the e-rickshaw to her.

Gourishankar Konar, managing director of West Bengal Livestock Development Corporation, said the popularity of Haringhata meat is increasing because of its quality.

"Many people have started buying Haringhata meat and the number of entrepreneurs selling them door-to-door is also increasing. Apart from meat, the popularity of Haringhata dairy products and vegetables has gone up as well," he added.

Mukerjee said she plans to expand her business by opening a chain to supply Haringhata meat to hotels and restaurants. She has started selling vegetables as well and has found that the response of the people buying them is going up every week.