In the absence of owning any source of irrigation, she borrows water from others' tube wells and irrigates her fields at night, as nobody lends it to her during daytime. Aaroh taught her the benefits of organic farming. So, now she uses organic manure along with urea. This has helped her increase the crop yield. She definitely finds vegetable growing more profitable than growing paddy or wheat. She is also part of a goat-rearing group.
Savitri has also done some training of a veterinary compounder from Rae Bareli, Lucknow and Banda. She is now skilled to treat diseases in goats, cows and other animal and can even give them injections too. Despite her own mountain of problems, Savitri helps other women in need as much as she can. She attends meetings and lends her solidarity for any cause related to helping women in distress and for women empowerment.
Savitri earns money by selling the vegetables she grows in the market and/or door to door in the village. She is able to sell some milk of the buffaloes she rears. Through her veterinary work she is able to earn INR 1000 extra per month. There is no other source of income. But she is not able to calculate how much her yearly profits are.
Savitri does not even have a ration card and so does not get anything from the public distribution system. According to her, "The gram Pradhan wants a bribe to get this work done and I do not have money to pay him. I have been running from pillar to post- from the block to the tehsil-but have not succeeded as yet in getting a ration card made for my family".
Women farmers
"Life of women farmers is tough. Farming is not easy, more so when one has to deal with vagaries of nature. Drought is their biggest enemy and so is the hard work involved--working under the blazing sun and sometimes having no time to even eat. Thirst and hunger become immaterial at times". She told Citizen News Service (CNS) that "the 2 bighas of land is in my name, which has given me some sense of security".
Women's education, marriage and family planning
"If girls are educated and capable of working they can fend for themselves and not face the problems which I faced, partly because I was uneducated. Education is important to make women economically independent. Despite facing so many hardships I have given a proper education to my children".
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
