Bhagalpur: When the COVID-19 lockdown shut down factories across Mumbai in 2020, thousands of migrant workers were stranded, their futures uncertain. Among them was Nandikesh Kumar, a 25-year-old from Kharik block of Bhagalpur, Bihar, who once earned ₹15,000 a month making school bags in a Mumbai factory.
But unlike many, he returned home not to wait for things to improve, but to build something of his own — in Bihar, for Bihar.
“I always had this pain that all of us Biharis were working so far from home in Mumbai, doing hard labour in a bag-making factory,” Nandikesh said. “I kept wondering, what if such a factory could be set up in Bihar itself?”
The Turning Point: Shramik Special and a Dream Reborn
When the government arranged Shramik Special trains for migrants, Nandikesh returned to Bhagalpur with savings of ₹2–3 lakh. But uncertainty loomed.
“I didn’t want to go back to another state,” he said. “Whatever I had to do, I decided to do it in Bihar.”
With no background in business but a strong will, he rented a house in Amarpur, Bihpur for ₹5,000 a month and started a notebook-making business in November 2020. He invested his savings and even mortgaged his family’s farmland, putting in a total of ₹5 lakh.
When a second lockdown hit in 2021, panic set in.
“I feared I would lose everything—my savings, the land. But as soon as the lockdown was lifted, the business picked up,” he recalled.
Mudra Loan Fuels Expansion
Seeing early success, Nandikesh applied for a ₹10 lakh loan under the Mudra Scheme, which he received in two installments. With growing demand from schools, he saw an opportunity in bag manufacturing—the very trade he had learned in Mumbai.
“Once schools started ordering notebooks, they also asked if I could supply school bags,” he said.
This time, he secured land through BIADA and applied for a ₹25 lakh loan under the PMEGP scheme, which was approved. In January 2023, his dream took full form with the launch of On-YatraBags, a factory in Bhagalpur that now supplies school bags to Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, and other states.
Bringing Migrant Workers Home
Perhaps the most emotional part of Nandikesh’s story is how he reached out to his former co-workers in Mumbai.
“The first thought I had after setting up the factory was of those workers I had worked with. I called them and asked if they wanted to come work with me,” he said.
The response was immediate and overwhelming.
“Everyone said yes. They were tired of living far from their families. They said, ‘We used to do the same work in Mumbai hundreds of kilometres away — now we’ll do it at home.’”
From One Worker to 15, With a Goal of 200
Today, Nandikesh employs 15 people. His companies — On-YatraBags and School Map (which manufactures notebooks) — have a combined turnover of ₹80 lakh in just two years.
“If the government supports me more, I can create jobs for 200 people,” he said.
He believes Biharis are among the most skilled workers in India — just lacking the right opportunities at home.
“You go to Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra — most skilled labourers are from Bihar. It’s time we build industries here and use that strength.”
A Message to Bihar’s Youth
Reflecting on the stigma and struggle of working in other states, Nandikesh said:
“When we go outside, people mock us by calling us ‘Biharis’. But we work harder than anyone. There’s employment in Bihar too, but if you keep waiting for a government job, you’ll waste your life and still end up migrating.”
His journey from a ₹15,000/month factory worker to a job creator in Bihar shows what’s possible when dreams are brought home.
