navigation search shri mahila griha udyog lijjat papad type worker cooperative industry papads soaps and detergent bakery products masala spices flour founded mumbai maharashtra 15 march 1959 headquarters mumbai india key people swati paradkar president number of employees 43000 2015 1 slogan symbol of woman s strength website www.lijjat.com shri mahila griha udyog lijjat papad popularly known as lijjat is an indian women s cooperative involved in manufacturing of various fast moving consumer goods . the organisation s main objective is empowerment of women by providing them employment opportunities . started in the year 1959 with a seed capital of rs . 80 2 lijjat has an annual turnover of around rs . 6.50 billion over 100 million usd in 2010 with rs . 290 million in exports . 3 it provides employment to around 43 000 in 2015 people . 4 lijjat is headquartered in mumbai and has 81 branches and 27 divisions all over india . 5 lijjat is primarily a cottage industry urban by its origin which has spread to the rural areas . 6 it is considered as one of the most remarkable entrepreneurial initiatives by women that is identified with female empowerment in india . 7 contents 1 history 2 organization structure and management 3 products and divisions 4 culture 5 role in women empowerment 6 contribution to social service 7 references 8 external links history edit lijjat was the brain child of seven gujarati women from bombay now mumbai . the women lived in lohana niwas a group of five buildings in girgaum . they wanted to start a venture to create a sustainable livelihood using the only skill they had i.e. cooking . the seven women were jaswantiben jamnadas popat parvatiben ramdas thodani ujamben narandas kundalia banuben . n. tanna laguben amritlar gokani jayaben v. vithalani and one more lady whose name is not known . 8 the women borrowed rs 80 from chhaganlal karamsi parekh a member of the servants of india society and a social worker . 8 they took over a loss making papad making venture by one laxmidasbhai 9 and bought the necessary ingredients and the basic infrastructure required to manufacture papads . on 15 march 1959 they gathered on the terrace of their building and started with the production of 4 packets of papads . 10 they started selling the papads to a known merchant in bhuleshwar . from the beginning the women had decided that they would not approach anyone for donations or help even if the organisation incurred losses . 11 chhaganlal parekh popularly known as chaganbapa became their guide . 6 initially the women were making two different qualities of papads to sell the inferior one at a cheaper rate . chaganbapa advised them to make a standard papad and asked them never to compromise on quality . he emphasized to them the importance of running it as a business enterprise and maintaining proper accounts . 12 lijjat expanded as a cooperative system . initially even younger girls could join but later eighteen was fixed as the minimum age of entry . within three months there were about 25 women making papads . soon the women bought some equipment for the business like utensils cupboards stoves etc. in the first year the organisation s annual sales were rs . 6196 . 13 the broken papads were distributed among neighbours . 9 during the first year the women had to stop production for four months during the rainy season as the rains would prevent the drying of the papads . 6 the next year they solved the problem by buying a cot and a stove . the papads were kept on the cot and the stove below the cot so that the process of drying could take place in spite of the rains . 8 the group got considerable publicity through word of mouth and articles in vernacular newspapers . this publicity helped it increase its membership . by the second year of its formation 100 to 150 women had joined the group and by the end of the third year it had more than 300 members . 8 by this time the terrace of seven founders could no longer accommodate the members and the ingredients so the kneaded flour was distributed among the members who would take it to their homes and make papads . 6 the papads were brought back for weighing and packaging . an attempt to start a branch in malad suburb of mumbai in 1961 was unsuccessful . 14 in 1962 the name lijjat gujarati for tasty was chosen by the group for its products . the name suggested by dhirajben ruparel was chosen in a contest held for the purpose with prize money of rs . 5 . 9 the organisation was named shri mahila griha udyog lijjat papad . 8 in many indian languages mahila means women griha means home udyog means industry . by 1962 63 its annual sales of papads touched rs . 182 000 rs . 182 000 . 6 in july 1966 lijjat registered itself as a society under the societies registration act 1860 . 8 in the same month on chaganbapa s recommendation u n dhebar the chairman of kvic personally inspected the lijjat . 6 kvic or khadi development and village industries commission is a statutory body set up by the government of india for development of rural industries . in september 1966 kvic formally recognised lijjat as a unit belonging to the processing of cereals and pulses industry group under the khadi and village industries act . it was also recognised as a village industry . in 1966 kvic granted it a working capital of rs . 800 000 0.8 million and was allowed certain tax exemptions . 8 an attempt to start a branch in sangli town in 1966 was unsuccessful . 14 the first branch outside maharashtra was established at valod gujarat in 1968 . 13 after tasting tremendous success with their papads lijjat began producing other products like khakhra 1974 masala 1976 vadi wheat atta and bakery products 1979 . in the 1970s lijjat set up flour mills 1975 printing division 1977 and polypropylene packing division 1978 . the group also initiated some unsuccessful ventures such as cottage leather 1979 matches 1979 and agarbattis incense sticks . 15 in july 1979 the general secretary of a trade union tried to interfere in lijjat s affairs making certain demands on behalf of a few member sisters . l. c. joshi labour advocate of bombay and a well known industrial relations expert was called for consultations . in his observations on who owns lijjat he clarified that member sisters were competent to take a decision for their own and it was not open for an outside agency to interfere with the internal working of lijjat . 16 in 1985 the lijjat branch at jabalpur was taken over by one shantilal shah as his own unit which he ran with the help of a sanchalika branch head who was wife of his employee . lijjat went through tremendous pressures and court stay orders to retrieve the situation . 17 in 1987 lijjat purchased new premises at kamal apartments in bandra a suburb of mumbai . the registered office shifted to the bandra with effect from july 1988 . 9 in 1988 lijjat entered the soap market with sasa detergent and soap . 18 sasa had annual sales of rs 500 million accounting for 17 percent of lijjat s total turnover in 1998 . in march 1996 the 50th branch of lijjat was inaugurated in mumbai . 19 in the 1980s lijjat also started taking part in several trade fairs and exhibitions which improved its sales and made the brand name lijjat well known among the people . 9 the advertising was undertaken through the vernacular newspapers television and radio . the institution sponsored programs and gave away gifts for the winners of specific shows in the television . 20 the money for advertisements was spent by the polypropylene division which recovered the same by adding it to the price of the bags that it supplied to all the branches and divisions throughout india . 21 in the 1980s and 1990s lijjat started attracting attention of foreign visitors and officials . the vice president of uganda dr. speciosa wandira kazibwe visited lijjat s central office in january 1996 since she wanted to start a similar institution in uganda . 22 lijjat started exporting its products with the help of merchant importers in the united kingdom the united states the middle east singapore the netherlands thailand and other countries . its annual exports accounted for more than us 2.4 million in 2001 . 13 23 as its popularity grew lijjat started facing the problem of fake lijjat papads being introduced in the market . in june 2001 three persons were arrested in this connection in bihar . 6 lijjat s website explains the identification features of original lijjat papads . lijjat received the best village industries institution award from kvic for the period 1998 99 to 2000 01 . 24 in 2002 the businesswoman of the year award was given to the women behind lijjat papad at the economic times awards for corporate excellence . 25 at the awards ceremony the president of lijjat urged the state governments of maharashtra and punjab to reconsider their decision of withdrawing the tax exemption on lijjat s sasa detergent . in 2002 lijjat had a turnover of rs 3 billion and exports worth rs . 100 million . it employed 42 000 people in 62 divisions all over the country . 8 the 62nd branch became operational at jammu and kashmir in 2002 enrolling over 150 members . 13 in 2003 lijjat received the best village industry institution . 24 it also received the phdcci brand equity award 2005 . 26 lijjat marked its 50th year of existence on 15 march 2009 . 27 organization structure and management edit lijjat believes in the philosophy of sarvodaya and collective ownership . it accepts all its working members as the owners and an equal partaker in both profit and loss . 11 the members are co owners and fondly referred to as sisters . all the decisions are based on consensus and any member sister has the right to veto a decision . 28 men can only be salaried employees accountants drivers or security guards and not the members of the organisation i.e. they are not the owners . 13 lijjat organisation structure the running of the organisation is entrusted to a managing committee of twenty one members including the president the vice president two secretaries and two treasurers . 13 sanchalikas are in charge of various branches and divisions . the office bearers of the managing committee and the sanchalikas are chosen from among the member sisters on the basis of consensus every three years . 29 each branch has a committee of eleven member sisters again chosen by consensus . the central office at mumbai previously coordinated the activities of various branches . but as the organisation grew the authority was decentralised in terms of work and sharing of profits at the branch level . however the sanchalikas still need the managing committee s approval before they undertake any new project or activity . all the branches follow the same set of instructions and have similar accounting system . to co ordinate various branches in a region or state there are branch co ordination committees and area meetings of the various branches in a state . the annual general meeting is attended by member sisters representing branches and divisions from all over india . currently lijjat has branches in seventeen indian states andhra pradesh bihar delhi gujarat haryana jharkhand jammu and kashmir karnataka kerala madhya pradesh maharashtra orissa punjab rajasthan tamil nadu uttar pradesh and west bengal . account books are easily accessible to all the member