Patna: When the Covid-19 pandemic brought the country to a standstill in 2020, Ankit Raj, like millions of others, found himself unemployed and forced to return home. A biology graduate from Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav College, Ankit had been working modest jobs in Delhi to support his family. But with the capital shut down and livelihoods upended, he was left with no income and little hope—until a state scheme offered him a second chance.
The Mukhyamantri Udyami Yojana, launched by the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government, proved to be a turning point. The scheme offers interest-free loans of up to Rs 10 lakh without collateral, aimed at supporting young entrepreneurs. Armed with information and determination, Ankit applied and received the funds in three instalments. He invested the money in a small-scale notebook (copy) manufacturing unit in his native village of Paijna in Patna district.
Today, his enterprise is not only producing thousands of exercise books every day but also supporting local education needs and employment. “We don’t just make notebooks—we make education accessible,” says Ankit, as his machines hum in the background. His products now reach schools and shopkeepers across the Barh region, an area previously reliant on more expensive, imported copies.
Ankit’s success hasn’t stopped at personal gain. His unit directly employs about 50 people and indirectly benefits more than 5,000 through local supply chains and related work. “Earlier, people left the village to look for jobs. Now, they’re finding work here,” he adds.
The journey wasn’t without its setbacks. Market competition, supply chain disruptions, and monsoon-damaged raw material threatened his early days. But Ankit persevered, crediting the government’s vision for enabling youth-led enterprise. “Once, Bihar was known as a ‘sick state.’ But today, we are proving that we can be self-reliant,” he says.
Ankit believes schemes like Udyami Yojana can become the cornerstone of Bihar’s entrepreneurial revolution. “Thousands of young people have started businesses—digital printing, furniture, IT services. We don’t need to wait for government jobs to shape our futures,” he says.
Looking ahead, Ankit plans to expand his unit, add new machinery, and scale up distribution so that every village in Bihar has access to affordable, locally made notebooks. “Every hand should have work. That’s real development,” he says.
