Meet Muktamani Devi, Manipur entrepreneur who recently got Padma Shri for her shoe-knitting business

It was in 1989 when Muktamani Devi decided to fix her daughter’s school shoes that changed the course of her life for the better. This year, the entrepreneur from Kakching, Manipur made it to the list of Padma Shri awards for her contribution in the field of trade and industry. Ever since her entrepreneurial journey began about three decades ago, she not only sold several hand-knitted woolen shoes for children, women, and men, but also trained more than 2,000 people. However, the beginning of this journey was not a cakewalk. “I faced many problems. I didn’t know much about running a business. I didn’t have a formal training in shoemaking. I didn’t come from a family with money. I used to earn a livelihood by making caps and socks, and selling them in the market,” says the mother of four. Then one day, she decided to fix one of her daughter’s worn out school shoes. “One of my daughters was in class four that time (1989). Her shoes would often get torn. Back then, getting a shoe stitched by a cobbler meant spending Rs 2 or 3. Even to spare that much money was difficult for me,” she recalls. “I had some woolen yarn left from a cap that I was making. There was also a torn shoe so I removed the top portion of the shoe, and only used the sole. Then I used the leftover green and white woolen yarn on the sole to make it wearable,” she adds. Her daughter wore the handmade footwear to school, and during assembly, a teacher called her out. The little girl thought she would get punished for not wearing black shoes so she started crying. “I used to also make school bags also for her. The teacher then asked my daughter who had made the bag and the shoes. She took my name. The teacher said that she liked them a lot, and asked if I could make shoes in black as well. After that, I felt that making shoes for people could be a profitable business,” says Devi. Then she purchased soles and started making hand-knitted woolen shoes. In 1991, she exhibited some of her work at a fair in Imphal, Manipur. “I hardly had 10 to 12 pairs of shoes. I had a small stall, but there was a huge crowd. At the fair, I was told that I’ll be needing people to turn it into a flourishing business,” says the Mukta Shoes Industry founder. Gradually, she started taking locals under her wing. Then in 1993, she participated in a fair in Imphal, for which she made around 200 to 300 shoes. “The sale was good. A competition was also on at the fair. On the last day of the fair, I was told that I had bagged the top spot. Then the Manipur government also recognised my work. I was considered as one of the successful entrepreneurs in northeast India,” she shares. Following the success, she went on to participate in exhibitions and trade fairs in different places. Thanks to these venues and army families, her creations made it to homes in different parts of India as well as several countries like New Zealand, South Korea, Australia, and Japan. Surprisingly, she does not have a huge store anywhere in the country. “I have employed at least 20 people right now.

We make shoes with our hands. It’s something that can be done by sitting on a mat, and while teaching your kids or cooking, so I don’t have a store as such. But some shops in Manipur keep our shoes,” she says.

Her products are also available on e-marketing platform Giskaa. “They are priced between Rs 500 and Rs 2,000. We generally don’t take much time in making shoes, but putting together a pair of high boots for men takes us around four to five days,” says Devi. Years ago, she decided to become a businesswoman just to survive and feed her children. Today, she lives a comfortable life as she earns between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 5 lakh annually. And now that she has been conferred with the fourth-highest civilian award of India, she is raring to go. “Padma Shri has encouraged me to do better, provide employment to more people, and improve the quality of my products,” she says with a smile. Natalia Ningthoujam is a Manipur-based journalist. She knows how to smoothly switch from being a fan to a writer whenever needed. She tweets at @nattynick. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.