BALASORE: At a time when menfolk from nondescript village Chakababan under Jaleswar are migrating for better work opportunities, some women have set an example by taking up agriculture for livelihood. The women under a SHG - Gruhalaxmi - have taken up paddy cultivation in around 25 acres of land, of which 20 acres are on lease. This 11-member SHG has also put up a shallow tube-well in the middle of a bog to provide irrigation water to farmers, fetching them good returns. This year, they have provided water to nearly 34 acres. The women said initially it was difficult for them to convince their family members and villagers. It needed a lot of patience and effort to convince the villagers also. Later on, things fell in place and now, villagers are all praise for them.Their journey started in 2004 with an initial deposit of ` 50 per member a month when the women group opened up a grocery. Later, they borrowed ` 5,000 from the Balasore-Bhadrak Central Cooperative Bank and started paddy cultivation. SHG president Snehalata Sahu said they first started paddy cultivation in two acres in 2006. In the same year they took up road construction in their village and a pond for fish farming. From 2007, they did cultivation in five acres and took 20 acres on lease every year for paddy cultivation. As an appreciation of their efforts, the bank granted them a loan of ` 4.88 lakh under Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY). With the money the SHG put up a shallow tube-well on their two-decimal land. While the SHG members charge ` 3,000 per acre for transplanting paddy saplings, they earn ` 2,500 per acre in a year by selling water from their shallow tube-well. “In a year we earn over ` 75,000 as water cess and ` 60,000 from paddy cultivation,” said SHG secretary Shantilata Sahu. However, carrying out the job is not an easy task for them. Everyday, they toil from 5 am to 12 noon. Again they work from 3 pm to 6 pm. In between, they take time to cook for their families. Husbands of some of them work as daily wagers and some as drivers. Balasore-Bhadrak Central Cooperative Bank secretary Bishnu Mohanty said the SHG is one of the best in the region. “They take loan and repay it in time. Considering the efforts they are putting in, they are bound to grow by leaps and bounds,” he said.
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