STAFF CORRESPONDENT
JORHAT, Feb 2: The Jorhat district administration on Monday felicitated the founder and General Manager of Jorhat-based Konoklota Mahila Urban Cooperative Bank Lakhimi Baruah, who was one of the recipients of the Padmashree from Assam this year.
In a function organized at the Conference Hall of the Jorhat Deputy Commissioner's office, Jorhat Deputy Commissioner Roshni A Korati presented Baruah with a gamosa, a bouquet of flowers, a xorai and a jaapi.
Speaking on the occasion the Deputy Commissioner lauded the role of Baruah for empowering women, especially at the grassroot level.
Korati applauded Baruah for enabling many women to become self-dependent at a time when few used to venture out of their homes.
She said that Baruah started her career by taking tuitions and then gathering her friends and their mothers to form a weavers cooperative group.
The Deputy Commissioner observed that it was a matter of pride for Jorhat that Baruah had been awarded the Padmashree.
Baruah, while narrating her experiences, said that she liked to do anything which did not pose a problem for others and could be done with ease.
It may be mentioned here that the Konoklota Mahila Urban Cooperative Bank was established in May 1998, though the process for setting up the bank whose employees are all women was started by Baruah in 1990. This is the only all women's Bank in the north-eastern region.
The bank now has a customer base of over 45000 and four branches in the district. The bank has given loans to many poor and middle-class women at low rate of interests to become self-reliant.
Additional Deputy Commissioners Tapan Gohain, Damodar Barman, Vivek Shyam, Biswajit Phukan and Sultana Akhtar were present on the occasion.
