Sanaka’s Journey: From Struggles to Strength through Mukti’s Community Development Fund

The Mukti Community Development Fund (MCDF) is a women-led financial initiative transforming lives across rural Bengal. Operating through Self-Help Group (SHG) federations, MCDF provides access to microloans that enable women to invest in agriculture, small businesses, education, housing, and healthcare. With over 20,000 women already benefitting across 35 Gram Panchayats, MCDF is building a community-owned, sustainable financial ecosystem that fosters economic independence and grassroots development.

In the remote village of Muktarheri in Mathurapur-II block, Sanaka Ghosh’s life was once marked by financial hardship. With her husband, she ran a small milk and chhana (paneer) business, struggling to expand due to lack of capital and crushing debts.

Everything changed when Sanaka joined a Mukti Self-Help Group in 2020. Through the Mukti Community Development Fund (MCDF), she accessed a series of small loans that helped grow their business from 35 litres of milk a day to 400 litres — multiplying their daily income more than threefold.

With stable earnings, Sanaka can now afford her sons’ education and her mother’s medical care. Her journey reflects a broader change: across 35 Gram Panchayats in rural Bengal, over 20,000 women like Sanaka are building better futures through MCDF.

The initiative supports women-led economic activities such as agriculture, small enterprises, home repairs, and education — creating resilience, dignity, and growth in vulnerable communities.

Sanaka’s dream is now within reach. “One day, I want to have my own shop,” she says with pride.

Through stories like hers, Mukti is helping turn the UN Sustainable Development Goals — especially those related to poverty, gender equality, and decent work — into reality, one empowered woman at a time.