Pune and Solapur are the only two cities from Maharashtra, shortlisted in the first round of the ambitious India Smart Cities Challenge. People in Pune are known to be smart historically. But Solapur has a different story. A major industrial town in Maharashtra in the 20^th century, Solapur has gone into a stagnation since 1990s. Famous for its ‘Pulgam’ chadars and towels, the textile industry in the city, which used to employ tens of thousands of people, was mired in a number of problems such as strikes and lockouts, unionism, failure to upgrade technologically. No other industry could replace the textile industry.

The large scale unemployment and alcohol addiction among men compelled many women in Solapur to stand-up and to start-up. The city has 100s of women’s self-help groups which engage into micro finance, community kitchens, tailoring and a number of other cottage industries. This start-up movement in the late 1990s and early 2000s brought to the fore a number of successful non-governmental organisations and most importantly women leaders. 

Udyog Vardhini, which is one of the most the most prominent voluntary organizations in Solapur has recently completed 10 years. Like its name, Udyog Vardhini works with women in the area of entrepreneurship development. It has nurtured more than 400 successful first generation small-entrepreneurs. Udyog Vardhini is inseparable from its founder Smt. Chandrika (Bhabhi) Chouhan has set an example of what a woman with meagre education and means can achieve if there is a strong desire and social commitment.

Solapur has large populations of Kannadiga and Telugu people along with the local Marathi speaking population. Historically, it has welcomed people coming from different parts of India and has created a unique melting pot of cultures and languages. Originally from Southern Rajasthan, Chandrika Bhabhi settled in Solapur with her husband Shri Shambhu Singh Chouhan, who also has dedicated his life for various nationalist voluntary organisations. For three years, they lived in a remote place in the outskirts of Solapur, away from their own children, to set up and look after a shelter for destitute women.

Shambhu Singh Chouhan suffered a heart stroke at a relatively early age, which put several limitations on his activities. It forced Bhabhi to become the breadwinner in the family. She had worked for consumer forum (1994-95) and  Jankalyan Samity (RSS) in slum areas (1995-97) but starting her own venture was not an easy task. Bhabhi took this challenge head on and started tailoring and catering services with the help of women in the neighbourhood. It exposed her to the pain and suffering of women trapped in the kitchen; many of them were victims of domestic violence and alcohol abuse of their husbands.

She started to get these women out of their homes by giving them a chance to participate in the activities of women's self-help groups.  These groups played an important role in increasing financial literacy among these women. They learned to save money through bank deposits and micro-lending for mitigating household financial needs.

Many of these women who started participating in the activities of self-help groups were inspired to start their own small business ventures in the areas of catering, tailoring, beauty parlours, retail, book binding and placement agencies. It helped Chandrika Bhabhi to expand the scope of her activities and accept large orders which were fulfilled through the collective efforts of the women. But while running a business venture, she kept a focus on women's empowerment and welfare.

Chandrika Bhabhi's extensive network among women and her ability to lead, opened the doors of electoral politics. Bhabhi was elected as a municipal councillor for the two consecutive terms without spending significant money or time for the election campaign. She used her tenure of a people's representative to strengthen the network of women and self-help groups.

Being part of electoral politics is a double edged sword. It empowers you to resolve the problems faced by the people. On the other hand, it cuts you off from many good people who have different point of views. It adversely affects the scope of your work when it is seen from the ideological prism. Most of the socio-political activists choose politics over full time social service when they face this dilemma. But in the case of Chandrika Bhabhi it was the opposite. Her commitment for the cause of women empowerment was unwavering. So she decided to voluntarily retire from politics and concentrate fully on the social work.

In 2006, Bhabhi founded Udyog Vardhini which since then has been working in the area of helping women to stand-up and become entrepreneurs. Udyog Vardhini has got many feathers in its cap. It has successfully developed Kadak Bhakari or "hard unleavened bread" as a packaged food item and made it famous as one of the specialities of  Solapur. It successfully took the challenge of making 100000 Chapatis in 24 hours for the mass wedding ceremony organised by Lokmangal Foundation.

With the success of making Bhakari, Udyog Vardhini ventured into a number of Maharashtrian and Gujarati delicacies such as Motichur Laddu, Methi Thepla, Shenga Poli and Chuteny, Diwali Faral and various types of pickles. These delicious food items are hygienically cooked, nicely packed and are sought by people from various cities in and outside of India.

Even though Udyog Vardhini has been working for the cause of women empowerment, Bhabhi realised that two other groups desperately need their attention. Due to shrinking family size, growing tendency in the younger generation to live separate from their parents and growing family disputes has deprived a large number of old people from home made food. Udyog Vardhini has been providing tiffins of homemade food to 100 old aged people every day free of cost.

Social exploitation of women often results in unwanted pregnancies and childbirth. Poverty, lack of social acceptance of children born out of wedlock and alcohol abuse at home forces some women to abandon their children. Pakhar Sankul, a sister organisation of Udyog Vardhini gives shelter, love and affection to these children and finds new homes for them through the legal adoption process.

On 16th January 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the ambitious Start-Up India, Stand-Up India campaign, which aims to create 10000s of start-up companies and entrepreneurs. Chandrika Bhabhi and her team at Udyog Vardhini might not have formal knowledge of the buzzwords such as start-ups, incubators, angels and venture capital firms, since the last 10 years, they are working for the same cause at the base of the social pyramid. They are keen to adapt new business practices and technology by learning and through collaborations with young technology start-ups which can help them in getting larger market access and better supply chain management.