"We faced disrespect and financial hardships," says Aachi Devi.
"However, now we receive timely monthly salaries."
That's thanks to a social enterprise founded by a man in the Indian state of Rajasthan more than 40 years ago.
Jaipur Rugs was started by Nand Kishore Chaudhary in Churu in the late 1970s after he observed carpet weavers in the area struggling to make a living, reports the Times of India.
Chaudhary, now 70, brought looms directly to the women, who make up the majority of the company's 4,000-strong workforce.
"Rather than transporting the weavers to looms within factories, I brought the looms directly to the weavers," says Chaudhary, who is now the company's chairman and managing director.
"I founded this business on the principles of dignity, compassion, empathy, and love," he says.
"We faced disrespect and financial hardships.
However, now we receive timely monthly salaries," says Aachi.
"We barely earned around [about] INR 10,000 to [about] 20,000 per month, depending on their productivity, experience, and the complexity of patterns or the number of carpets produced," she says.
Now, she says, "I even had the chance to speak at an event in Noida, sharing my life journey with an
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