Of goats, goat farm and more with SHG women....

Of goats, goat farm and more with SHG women....

I love my field visits and interaction with the women of our Self-help groups. The women  overwhelm me by their enthusiasm and I always return back satiated with the joy they reverberate. It also goads me strive harder and to plan much more for their economic development.
MSRLM Umed works for the empowerment of women through self help groups. Social and financial inclusion form the foundation for their economic development.
The true spirit of this development was reflected when I visited two villages today.
My first interaction was with the 35 women from  Ekta bakri paalak sangh in village Digdoha of Deoli taluka in Wardha district. They came together, contributed a share of Rs.1000 each, took a loan of Rs 2 lakhs from the Community Investment Fund, CIF , managed to get the support of Rs. 1 lakh through the VSTF programme and had a kitty of Rs. 3.35 lakhs in hand. With this they made a goat-shed in Rs.1.56 lakh. Since they did the labour work by themselves they saved up a lot on the cost of construction. They used that money for purchasing goats and invested Rs.1.08 lakh in the same. Additionally they invested Rs.2500 for creating grazing field for their goats. It was not possible for them to be present with the goats while they were grazing so they hired a caretaker to take care of the goats for Rs.30000. They ensured good health for their goats by vaccinating them and also feeding them with pashu chat to make them healthy by investing Rs.1835. The outcomes were increase in the number of goats from 18 to 29 in six months.
Sunita Sudhakar Rathod, the Pashu Sakhi beams with joy as she shares that their goats escaped damage in the recent epidemic due to the efforts made by then in maintaining the good health of the goats. Anita Jabde the Community Resource Person is equally joyful. They now plan to go ahead with an enterprise in poultry also. They hope to make more than Rs.One lakh from the investment they made in the 29 goats and all this in a span of less than 11 months.
Their enthusiasm is awe inspiring even to the group of 45 women from the Self-help groups of MAVIM, another organisation for the welfare of women in Maharashtra who had come for an exposure visit to the goat farm. As we ate the delicious lunch prepared by the women and posed for snaps I could only smile.
My second visit to Bhidi Heti village in Deoli taluka of Wardha district left me dumb struck. Their potential was recognised by none other than Mr. Shailesh Navaal, the dynamic Collector of Wardha, who aptly sanctioned an amount if Rs. 18 lakhs to the Ma Jijau Cluster Level Federation and the New Adarsh Village Organization.
It is amazing to see the enthusiasm of Community Resource Person, CRP Sangeeta Madaavi as she narrates the growth of their six enterprises in the cluster.
To begin with they started using an unused shed for their goatery but once they received the grant from the Collector they constructed a goat shed. What is remarkable is that they made the shed in Rs 3 lakhs saving almost 50 percent of the estimated budget by doubling up as labour. They purchased 11 goats from the saved amount and additionally purchased 20 more goats. The have 2 goat kids now totalling to 34 goats. They hope to make good profit from sale of these goats and all this in just 6 months. .
The second enterprise is a poultry shed with 100 birds. Here too they saved on the estimated budget of Rs 2.31 laks and constructed the shed in just Rs.1.39 lakhs only due to their own efforts when they worked as labour.They hope to make good profits from the poultry business too.
The CRP says with pride that those women who had never stepped out of their houses now know the cost of bricks also. No wonder they have also built a store house for fodder, a urine tank for the cattle, a shed for dairy activities. They would doing business in milk and ghee by purchasing the required instruments. Above the dairy unit they also plan to construct a community hall for the use of the community.
They are full of praise for the Block Mission Manager, Ms.Lata Darne and the team which always supports them. The convergence through VSTF has also added value.
A couple, a woman from.the SHG and her husband also showed 2 excellently packaged bio pesticides, Brahmaastra and
Nimaark . They made a profit of Rs. 45000 by selling 18000 litres of the bio pesticide.
I was then taken to a nutri garden where the CRP and the women explained the importance of eating a balanced diet comprising of green and leafy vegetables and other fruits. They gushed that their haemoglobin content has improved due to the same. The Young Professional and the Convergence Sakhi ranted out the number of nutri gardens made and the funds disbursed. 
Once upon a time they and their village was totally neglected but now they had become an ideal village which everyone clamoured to visit. The district and the block team had really toiled hard for this and deserved kudos.
By now it was evening and the goats had returned to the sheds,. The SHG women wanted me to pose for pictures with them and the goats. I happily did so and left with a smile, almost bleating with joy like a goat. Me...aah....Swati Wankhede, the District Mission Manager and me were truly bleating with joy....mee....aah......