Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust has instilled a ray of hope in Divya by getting her business loan disbursed amidst lockdown. With all the businesses shut down and banks functioning with a skeletal staff, it was quite a challenging task for BYST representatives for arranging to disburse this loan. Divya Om Prakash runs a Paper bags manufacturing company with her husband in Chennai. Due to the outbreak of the virus and the lockdown that followed, their company is closed from the last week of March. She was facing challenges in paying salaries to her 6 employees. Meanwhile, BYST staff through relentless follow-up with the bank got her loan of 2 lakhs disbursed and the amount was credited into her account on 20th April 2020. The burden of paying the loan for the next 3 months has been relaxed under the government moratoriums hence she is contemplating using the amount to pay salaries to her employees — all of whom are women who stay in the neighborhood. Divya Om Prakash is based out at Kodungaiyur, Chennai and her production unit is at Ezhil Nagar about 4 km away. Prior to starting the business, Divya’s husband Om Prakash had a job in Medical billing and worked night shifts. As it was demanding and tiresome the couple decided to switch to doing something on their own. They partnered with a relative who had a company for manufacturing leather bags. After working there for a brief span, the idea of manufacturing paper bags struck them, and immediately they set to work on it. They carried out a market study — the varieties, availability, costs, etc. and finally commenced their company, M/s Divya Lakshmi Enterprises, with a self-funding of Rs.50, 000 in February 2019. They had been dealing with Imported paper as it is rich in texture/quality. Initially, they were 2 women who came into work from the neighborhood and got paid on a weekly basis. Now, the company has 6 women employees and supplies to major outlets from textiles to stationery shops and food joints in Chennai. As the business picked up in a few months, the couple wanted to expand the business but were contemplating the arrangement of funds. Until one day, her mother in law informed Divya about BYST after seeing the posters in IOB Bank, Teynampet. They visited BYST and attended the Entrepreneur Online Course (EOL) and completed the required procedures before submitting the proposal to the bank. That process has finally completed with this disbursement, thanks to the proactive follow-ups and numerous phone calls between BYST staff and the Bank. Divya and her husband are indeed thankful for the timely support from BYST. Once the lockdown is over, Divya is hopeful to resume her business and carryout expansion. Section