The unprecedented coronavirus pandemic snatched away the livelihood of millions of people from all walks of life. Among those who suffered the most have been the daily wage workers. With no savings, diminishing ration, and fast receding prospects of getting work in these days of extended lockdowns, life for them remained difficult throughout the pandemic.
During such a time, the Cane and Sugar Department has proved to be a blessing for rural women entrepreneurs of Uttar Pradesh. This it did by launching of ‘Women Employment Generation Programme’ under the ‘Mission Shakti’ campaign for the protection, honor, self-reliance, and income-earning of women and girls.
Commissioner of the department, IAS Sanjay Bhoosreddy, exclusively talked with Indian Masterminds in this regard.
SUGARCANE CULTIVATION BY THE WOMEN
For the migrant families who had to return to their villages during the Covid 19 pandemic, Mr. Bhoosreddy’s ‘Single Bud Chip Program’ proved to be a boon to the women of the family. Because now, they can work on the field and earn a proper income for themselves and their family.
The women belonging to these groups have been trained by the department to prepare the seedlings by the ‘single bud chip’ method. So far, 10.98 crore seedlings have been prepared by the women groups, out of which through the sale of 9.38 crore seedlings they have earned an income of Rs. 28 crores. An average income of Rs. 59,000 per woman entrepreneur in a season through Sugarcane nursery is expected. So far, about 9 lakh man-days of employment have been created under this program.
“We provided the women with the required machinery and equipment needed in the process and opened their bank accounts. I targeted about 1300 groups with 11-25 women in each group, a total of 13000 women, of all ages. With the success of the program, we decided of spreading our wings and therefore, formed 4000 groups and about 40,000-50,000 women were involved. Each self-help group has a president, vice president, and secretary. Now they do their work by themselves without any interference from any authority and earn their livelihood,” Mr. Bhoosreddy told Indian Masterminds.
Not only that, for the convenience of the women, the officer also installed an RO plant for portable water and a sanitary pad vending machine with an extra supply of pads for each and every group. “The sanitary pad vending machine is mechanical and not electrical so that the women can make use of it even when there is no electricity.” The machine has been installed in a place where it has access to only women and their infants.
PROVIDING A BETTER LIFE TO THOUSANDS OF WOMEN
Under the ‘Employment Generation Program for women’ campaign, 1,988 women self-help groups have been formed till now and 43,609 women entrepreneurs have been registered with Cane Development Councils. The single bud chip program is proving to be helpful in earning income for rural women entrepreneurs.
“About 26.82 lakh quintals of improved Cane seeds will be produced under this program. Initially, people showcased doubts about the campaign and were skeptical about the idea, but the women entrepreneurs proved me right,” said Mr Bhoosreddy.
The program has been a great success and its popularity is spreading like wildfire across the state so much that Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, on 8th March 2021 (Women’s Day) honored two diligent women from the self-help groups – Kusum from Bareilly and Manmeet from Ayodhya – with medals for their hardwork.
EMPLOYING MEN THROUGH THE SAME
The rural women participating in the program and earning their livelihood have also started employing the men from their family into the work and they are paid accordingly.
In a conversation with Indian Masterminds, Kusum, a rural women entrepreneur from Bareilly stated, “Our men sit idly at home as there is no work because of the pandemic and we were daily wage earners. Therefore, at times, we, the women of self-help groups employ men from our families to work on the field and pay them their wage by the end of the day which is beneficial for them too.”
FULFILLING THEIR DREAMS
While Indian Masterminds was exclusively speaking with five different leaders/presidents of the self-help groups, we came across the fact that each group usually contains members from the same family and they work together to earn the income which is then distributed equally amongst everyone.
The groups contain people of all ages beginning from 12-13 to 60-65. They work hard the entire month and reap the fruits of their seeds as the month comes to an end.
Each woman has different dreams to fulfill and different tasks where they would like to invest their money. Someone wanted to get her house plastered, another wanted to buy competitive books for studies; someone wanted to produce vermicompost to keep away worms while another wished to buy good clothes for her children.
Mr. Bhoosreddy and the Cane and Sugar department are helping them in realizing their dreams and giving them a better life.
