A fist-full of rice & a Rs 1000/- loan brings tribal families in Kalahandi out of poverty
I recently visited Kalahandi district, in Orissa, and spent a few days there. Bhawanipatna, the district headquarters, is a bone-rattling 8-hour drive from Raipur.
Dullen village, home to a small community of 25 families from the Patra tribe, is one among the several villages I visited.
My interactions with the people here were an eye-opener; while the dark clouds covering the economic development of India’s poorest districts were self-evident, it is the silver lining that was a revelation.
Consider the following case:
Less than 13 years ago, Saraswati Patra and her family, like all other families here, were symbols of poverty and hunger. Relying on a single, monsoon-fed crop, these families would practically starve for six months in a year. They were in the clutches of the local ‘mahajan’ or moneylender who ripped the villagers off by charging them an exorbitant 150%. Their’s seemed like an inescapable fate……
Until good fortune intervened in the form of local NGO, F.A.R.R.
By getting each woman to contribute a fist-full of rice, each day, to a community ‘Grain
Bank’, FARR ensured that food security was ensured for the distress period of July-
December. No family went hungry ever again.
This ‘grain bank’ has now translated into a financial corpus of
Rs 32,000/- that belongs to the women in this tribal community.
Small loans are extended to families that need them to tide over
short-term needs, or even to start livelihood-related activities.
Saraswati Patra’s 23-year-old son, Manohar, took a Rs 1000/-
loan many years ago, and is now the proud owner of a ‘kirana’
shop in the village. Inspired by FARR, Manohar and other
villagers also cultivate sugarcane and vegetables.
No more borrowing from the ‘mahajan’, by anyone.
After tackling hunger, indebtedness, and livelihood, FARR next focused on eradicating
child labour, by facilitating the set-up of an ‘informal school’ that provides preliminary
education.
Today, this proud village has zero debt, zero hunger, reasonable literacy, and confident, busy villagers.
Like Dullen, there are several villages in this area that have made similar progress. All, with only limited involvement of the government.
August 31st, 2007 at 12:02 am
In the world of marketing all big projects start with pilots , and they say, all BIG movements have small beginnings …
I really feel that :
a) if this small beginning can be “scaled” up to cover 6.38 lakh villages in India and 5,161 towns - we could be doing our bit to empower the real India.
b) the people who run the show have shown a “different” kind of leadership . How can we find many more such people because these are the self-less people who could be the key to driving a movement -can we get some more details about these people ? a profile…
September 4th, 2007 at 12:04 am
Just makes me wonder that should we not as concerned Indians do our two bits to give back to society.
We sit back in our seat , read articles and feel good about it.Reminds me of the first chapter of the novel “the Street lawyer”- how much of what we earn do we give back to society.
What can we do to improve our country is the moot question ?