Welcome To

 Mr. Janardhan Kinkar

Janardan’s family of four sat down for food after completing the work in the fields. The lunch was a wholesome meal of 'Jowar' roti and 'moong' dal, made up of stuff they grew in their 4 acres of shallow drylands. Janardan and his family represent the group of villagers who have not eaten expensive pulses like moong, urad, peas & fruits since the past 35-40 years. The diet was mostly wheat from the public distribution system and less expensive vegetables from the market.

Opportunities Chetana-Vikas offered: 
After coming in contact with Chetana-Vikas and initiating new techniques in his dryland fields, Janardan has increased production as seen in the graph above. The basket accommodates at least 35-40 different types of food crops. Especially important as India stands as low as 67 out of 84 countries when ranked recently by global hunger index 2010, released by International Food Policy Research Institute.

Today:
In his own words, “If I would not have been following this self-reliant farming, I would have had committed suicide like others…”

Indubai

“Where is the chair used by the Sarpanch (elected village-head)”, asked Indubai the newly elected Sarpanch of Pimpalgaon, to the men members of the council, who hid the executive chair because she was a low-caste and that too, a woman. Angry male egos wanted to get her election nullified. Indubai was your quintessential "behind the scene" woman found in any Indian village.

Opportunities Chetana-Vikas offered:
A member of Self-Help-Group run by Chetana-Vikas;  continuous exposure to new ideas opened up Indubai’s mind to her own capacities. She is responsible for bringing forward all the women of her village as active & vocal members for village development.

Today:
Benefiting from special training for Sarpanches, schemes like providing Low-cost toilets, smokeless stoves, water harvesting structures, constructing a building to facilitate hygienic delivery of babies under medical supervision, starting a bus service to her village are only a few examples of the dynamic leadership that Indubai projected for village development.

In her own words, “Each scheme brought to the village has been an independent fight against corrupt and lazy government officers...” .

Warluji Milmile

"There, that should take care of the 'cream' on your land" said Varluji to the small landholder. The 'cream' here is the fertile top layer of the land that supports crop growth. Increasing deforestation and other practices make the topsoil predisposed to erosion. It takes 500-1000 years for this important natural resource to form in nature, and one monsoon season to wash it off.

Opportunities Chetana-Vikas offered:
A 7th standard dropout, he was spotted for his special ability for fast measurements, calculations and understanding basic maths. He was given a training to be a "Village Engineer" by Chetana-Vikas. Today, he goes about the village fields and streams to give layout for constructing appropriate earthen structures, allowing efficient soil and water management. These structures also help the farmers to adapt to erratic rainfall induced by global climate change. This appropriate technology applied by such barefoot engineers has increased crop yield from their rainfed lands by upto 30-50%. Also recharges the ground water in nearby wells.

Today:
In his own words, “My capacities were lying dormant until Chetana-Vikas gave them a direction & purpose…”

Yashodhara

After waiting for hours by the roadside, the group of women led by Yashodhara, captured the Kerosene dealer and marched to the council office. The burning issue, was irregular, not at fixed price and less quantity of kerosene supplied, which they should have got as their rightful share through the government public distribution system. The diverted kerosene entered the black-market and not their homes. Ultimately the women had their way.

Opportunities Chetana-Vikas offered:
Yashodhara, an illiterate, backward caste woman, small landholder, has already educated her son to become a Teacher. Through SHG membership, regular exposure & experiences, keeps a watchful eye on any irregularities committed in her village. She was singularly responsible for renewing the BPL list of her village where the rich people had deviously enrolled and poor left out due to ignorance.

Today:
In her own words, “I am not afraid to accost any difficult government officer or police to make things work & moving in my village…”

Jyotsna 

"SICKLE“, a sharp instrument used by women to cut grasses, seen on the right, came in handy for Jyotsna of village Sonegaon. Widow within months of marriage, Jyotsna is a 4th standard dropout. She became the prime object of men for demanding sexual gratification. Every night she tried to sleep, keeping this sickle by her pillow, widely alert to slightest sounds.

Opportunities Chetana-Vikas offered:
During this difficult phase, Jyotsna joined a group of women working with Chetana-Vikas. A monthly saving of Rs. 50 allowed her to take a loan of Rs. 2,000 and start a small business of bangles and stationery and became financially independent. Her journey had begun.

Today:
She is a pioneer of the women’s movement against alcoholism & other social issues, fighting corrupt police and goondas and has also made her son a civil engineer. In her own words, “I’ve come a long way from those sleepless nights…”.

SARPANCH SHARADA

Kangaon, a village in Wardha district. Sharada, was elected as a head(Sarpanch) of village council by villagers in the local election.

Probably male members thought that women are weak and not capable for doing any work and not take up jobs. All the male members of the council thought that women are weak and cannot do much and so were least concerned. But Sharada had attended a "Training for Sarpanches" who were newly elected; organized by Chetana-Vikas. The Secretary submitted a bill for 12 trolleys of stone which had been used for road repairing.

Sharada was skeptical about the quantity and the bill and wanted to check everything before passing the sanction. The male secretary kept on desisting her and arguing, but a confident Sharada did not budge. She did a spot checking, talked with the contractor and checked the information given by the secretary. Ultimately it come out that only 10 trolley of stones were used.

The secretary wanted to pocket the money of remaining two trolleys. Sharada gave a signed sanction only on a 10 trolley bill. Thus saving development money of the village. Since then Sharada has became more confident and earned a name for herself as a person who does not allow corruption.

SAVITA

HIGHLIGHTING IMPORTANCE OF SELF HELP GROUP (SHG)

Savita is a member of Mahalaxmi Mahila Bachatgat (SHG). Financially, her condition was poor. She used to always ask the Field Supervisor about any business to start. Many business ideas like selling of clothes, stationary, grocery, require huge capital and even it does not guarantee a profitable, continuous income. She is only 11th pass, with a son and a daughter.

The agriculture income was meagre. How will I earn money? Other women in SHG also discussed and then it was decided that she can best run a flour mill. With combined amounts from her savings and with help from Women's Federation an investment of Rs.28,000/- was made to buy the machine.

Flour, refined flour, semolina, gram flour are the basic ingredients for making wide range of processed foods. This business could engage her for whole day. Grinding of grains in a daily need for everyone. With this regular income her financial condition improved, and she is living a much better life. She has repaid all her debt.

Hence, with the help of Self Help Group her financial condition improved. This has also led to a respite from continuous mental tensions and anxiety. Thus the small savings from SHGs help the rural women in taking a big leap for improving lives.