New Delhi: Chandrashekhar Mandal, a boy from rural Bihar could have carried on with his regular job, leading a life that majority of people live. However, he broke away from the regular affair and founded a startup that has come to help thousands of employees in the unorganized sector.


COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

Chandrashekhar resigned from his job in a banking company in Delhi to launch a website that would assist daily laborers, including masons, carpenters, painters, electricians, plumbers, and others, in finding work. The entrepreneur from Bihar founded Digital Labor Chowk, India's first digital labor platform that helps laborers find jobs seamlessly. This startup assists laborers not only in finding employment but also in receiving fair compensation. 


Thousands of workers across India have found jobs through Chandrashekhar's Digital Labour Chowk. However, Chandrashekhar's entrepreneurial journey was never easy. To create his website and make it a place where daily laborers could find employment and fair compensation, Chandrashekhar had to overcome several obstacles. Chandrashekhar's entrepreneurial journey is, therefore, an example of how through hard work and perseverance, one can create something that can benefit others.


Chandrashekhar was moved by the plight of labourers
Chandrashekhar Mandal is a resident of Ami village in Darbhanga, Bihar. He pursued his education in Delhi. After completing his education, he started working for a bank in 2020. 


Once from his office, Chandrashekhar caught sight of the laborers at the Labor Chowk who were seated there for their daily work. He was deeply moved by the plight of these laborers. The coronavirus pandemic also moved him greatly. Due to the Covid epidemic, there was a nationwide lockdown in March 2021, which left these laborers unemployed. From this point on, Chandrashekhar resolved to do something to help these laborers get employment. 


Chandrashekhar resigned from the job and went to his home in Bihar. At that time he had only Rs 40,000 in savings. 


Chandrashekhar launches Digital Labor Chowk amid great obstacles


To make a difference for laborers, Chandrashekhar began developing an app that would allow workers to find work through a digital platform rather than having to go to the chowk daily. Building his startup presented many challenges for Chandrashekhar at first. To proceed, he began searching for government schemes and loans. He attempted to get funds through Mudra loans and the Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Yojana but was unsuccessful. However, his hard work paid off, as a Pune incubator invested Rs 10 lakh in his project.


Chandrashekhar also participated in Hitachi India and the Kerala Startup Mission's initiatives National Innovation Challenge where his startup idea got selected and he got 30 lakh seed fund. This encouraged him to launch his app and he launched the app named Digital Labor Chowk in March 2023.


Chandrashekhar's startup helps laborers get jobs seamlessly
Thousands of laborers are finding work seemingly thanks to Chandrashekhar's app. This app has thousands of workers connected to it, and thousands of businesses are hiring through it. Employers register their businesses, post job requirements and pay on the app, and employees receive notifications when a job listing is posted. Other than Bihar, the startup has benefited laborers in Delhi NCR, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh.