DHAKA, Sept 07, 2025 (BSS) - Forty-five-year-old Santana Rani Roy started her life's struggle with empty-handed. 
 
Santana, a struggling woman, has become an icon of women empowerment through changing fortune of local women and villagers overcoming many hurdles in her life.
 
Today, she is the successful entrepreneur of 'SB Tailors', one of the most popular tailoring shops in Barabari Bazar, Lalmonirhat. Her unique hard work, dedication and courage have not only made her self-reliant, but have also changed the lives of hundreds of women.
 
Santana Rani, a resident of Rudraram village in Barabari union, began her life amidst crisis and hardship. In 1992, she was married off with Bidhubhushan Roy, a daily wage worker at the local post office. Her husband's meager income meant that the family struggled. Santana Rani, who studied up to the eighth grade, did not give up and sought a path to self-reliance.
 
First, she was trained as a tailor from the Dinajpur Rehabilitation Service (RDRS) and learned sewing. Then, she became a trainer herself and gave about 300 women the opportunity to learn how to make clothes, many of whom are now self-reliant. She herself worked as a trainer for a few years.
 
After that, he dreamed of doing something. With a loan of just Taka 30 thousand from a local NGO, she established 'SB Tailors' in the Barabari Women's Market in 2000. The beginning was difficult, but she gained fame and popularity in a short time. 
 
Currently, her annual income, excluding expenses, is about Taka 2.50 lakh. She has bought land and is paying her daughters educational expenses with this income.
 
Santana Rani said, “Many women who learned to work in my shop in the past 20 years are now self-dependent. Three to five local women are working here part-time till now.” 
 
Her elder daughter, Asha Lata Roy Mau, is currently a student of the philosophy department at Jagannath University. Her younger daughter, Bijoya Roy Srishti, is studying in the first year of Intermediate at Majida College in Lalmonirhat. Santana's dream is to train one of her daughters to become a government official and the other a nurse.
 
About her future plans, she said, if she gets government assistance, she wants to start a large-scale tailoring business in the open space next to the shop and employ more women. 
 
Regular customers of the shop, Mokleza Akhter and Aklima Akhter, said, "We have been having clothes made here since childhood. We are very satisfied with the quality.”
 
Former Secretary of Barabari Bazar Banik Samity Toufiqul Islam Topu said Santana is a hardworking and honest businesswoman. Her initiative has brought innovation to the clothing of women in the area, he added. 
 
Deputy Director of the District Social Service Office Muhammad Matiar Rahman said Santana's success is exemplary. Assistance will be considered if she applies for a loan, he added.