When Reshmi Devi, 55, decided to return to her village from Gujarat and raise her three sons and a daughter here, she did not imagine even in her wildest dreams that one day she would be able to earn Rs2 lakh per annum through ‘Didi ki Paudhshala’ scheme under the Jeevika programme of the state government.
She along with her husband had been daily wagers in Gujarat since 1999.She came back in 2014 to her Balua village under Mahua gram panchayat of Chakia block in East Champaran district and started working as Jeevika Didi, who were engaged in looking after saplings of the forest department. One day, a forest department official asked me to fill up a form to help me develop my own nursery. They picked up one Didi in every block to develop her own nursery. Aaj hamare paas 60,000 plant hain (today, I have 60,000 plants), she says with her head held high.
When asked about her earnings, she said the forest department pays about Rs20 per plant. Saara kharcha-barcha laga kar hum 2 lakh saal ka bacha lete hain (I earn Rs2 lakh a year after deducting all the expenses). We bring seeds from Hajipur, grow saplings and sell them to the forest department at prices depending on the quality of plants. The department pays us annually, Reshmi says.
She has been an active member of Jeevika and mobiliser for the self-help group (SHG) since February 2014. She is the leader of 300 members of her SHG.
Reshmi is a dropout from the middle school of Dumaria village in Muzaffarpur district, and she was married to Nawal Kishore Prasad of Balua village in East Champaran at the age of 18.
When I got married, my husband had only four kattha land and a thatched house. Now, we have 10 kattha land and a proper house in our village. Out of 10 katthas, six katthas of land we have kept for saplings, she says.
Reshmi is not the only one who has come out of abject poverty through this ‘Didi ki Paudhshala’ scheme. There are about 43 Didis who have their own nurseries, and all of them are earning more or less the same amount as Reshmi.
Take the example of Ranju Devi, who was also a daily wager earlier. But taking inspiration from Reshmi Devi, she also decided to be a sapling planter. Humko pehle jagah-jagah jaakar kaam karna padta tha. Ab hum apne gaon mein hi kaam karke kha-kama lete hain. (Earlier, I had to move from one place to another for work. Now, I earn a livelihood in my village itself), she says.
Mausam Kumari of Ghorasahan village, Shiv Kumar Devi of Adapur, Laxmanpati Devi of Dhaka and Hasan Tara of Kesaria village are among the women engaged in growing saplings and earning a living.
Jeevika official Ganesh Paswan says altogether 50,000 SHGs have been functioning in East Champaran district with around 10 lakh members, who have reduced their poverty through the program. These women also get loans at an interest rate of 1% through the Jeevika program. We provided a loan to Reshmi also when she decided to develop her own nursery on her land. She started earning a profit in just six months, Paswan said.
