By Atul Lekhra | Programme Incharge
Sumi is a 36-year-old farmer who lives in Rajpur village in southern Rajasthan. The area is hilly and one of the most backward areas of the country on the human development index. Because of the low yield in revenue from traditional agricultural and animal husbandry livelihoods, families in this area have diversified their livelihood sources to include small businesses within their villages, daily wage labor in nearby urban areas, and migrant labor to other states such as Gujarat and Maharashtra state. Mother of 6 children, Sumi is a tribal woman who has been working as a farmer on her land as well as a laborer in larger farms in the neighboring state of Gujarat.
Sumi has been associated with Seva Mandir's Self Help Group for the last two years and has been a very active member of her group.
Earlier last year during Covid-19 induced lockdown, Sumi and her group encountered a new challenge. Chand, a community male approached the group for financial assistance. His family needed immediate medical support and he did not have enough savings. Since Chand was a known member of the community and very much in need, women decided to ask for his 1 beegha land as a collateral and extended him a loan of Rs.30,000 ($405).
Sumi saw this as an opportunity. After discussions in her group, it was agreed that the group should use the land for agriculture and distribute profit within the group. With the help of low-cost seeds from Seva Mandir and water from nearby sources, Sumi and her group were able to harvest 60kgs Urad (Black Gram Lentil) worth Rs 5,000 ($67). From her earlier experience of working on a large farm Sumi also hired two laborers for better yield. The harvest was sold together in the local market by Sumi and her group members.
Sumi said "We used Rs 3,000 ($40) as group savings and distributed other Rs 2,000 ($27) among women who could not get wages because of Covid. It was an experiment to try something new and we succeeded. We should not wait for anyone to help us during crisis; we already have so many resources around us".
Presently, Seva Mandir is helping more than 20,000 women run 1,476 Self Help Groups. Without your support none of this would be possible, so a heartfelt thank you goes out to you for supporting our efforts in empowering women.
Best regards,
Atul Lekhra & the Seva Mandir Team
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