ACL had identified a number of women small vendors and street vendors who comprise more than 7% of the total market force. The small vendors particularly serve the needs of poor families selling products at affordable prices. But these vendors’ own economic situation has not been very stable. They take periodic loans to run their business from local money lenders, at very high interest rates. Cholai found in every village more than 20 such women small vendors who need support to come out of the clutches of money lenders. It was also found that these vendors found it difficult to support their children’s education which led to many school dropouts. Hence during the period under review ACL ventured into a new program called “womemalln S entrepreneurs federation”.

The objective of this program is to assist small vendors with small capital amount through loans and collaborative marketing support. 1528 women small vendors have been identified and registered as members of the federation and 653 persons had been helped through subsidized financial assistance. They have been issued identity and membership cards. The small vendors are trained on entrepreneurship, money management and other marketing skills. Cholai also organises yearly conferences to seek government’s attention on key policy changes related to small scale vendors.