These Maharashtra villagers need no loan waiver …..Jayashree Bhosale SANGAMNER
ITS not easy for a village in Maharashtra to oppose sugarcane cultivation and still survive. But Mhasvandi village on the Pune-Nashik highway, in the Sangamner taluka of the chronically droughtprone Ahmednagar district, did just that and not only survived but prospered too.
The village has taken a policy decision to not allow borewells and sugarcane cultivation, which have been responsible for the depletion of the groundwater table in Ahmednagar district. The district leads in sugarcane production in the state and is home to some 18 sugar mills of the states total 170 sugar co-operatives.
Before 1995, when the Indo-German Watershed Project of Nabard was launched in Mhasvandi, it was like any other Ahmednagar drought-prone village. The population of the village is 1,250, 40% of which is the tribal thakar community. Growing rainfed bajra and grazing herds of desi cows was the villagers only occupation. With average annual rainfall of 399mm, even drinking water had to be fetched from far away.
But with the implementation of the watershed programme and womens development through self help groups (SHG), the village is on the path to sustainable development. The social transformation has been brought about mainly through womens empowerment. There are 23 SHGs with 160 members. Every household has a cooking gas connection. We decided not to cut trees for cooking. So we took a loan of Rs 1 lakh from the village watershed committee and started a gas agency, said Nanda Kale, a Mhasvandi resident.
As most of the families have farms, purchasing seeds and fertilisers from Bota, which is 10 kms away, was a troublesome job. We had to either walk for 10 kms or spend on transportation, said Kisan Bodke. So the women started supplying seeds and fertilisers. The rooms for storing fertilisers and the gas cylinders were constructed solely through shramadan and monetary contribution of the villagers. Other SHG initiatives include distributing free grocery for households to celebrate Diwali. All the women in the village have life insurance policy.
A strong sense of community and unity has been developed in the village after the watershed programme. The elections to the gram panchayat are held with consensus since last 11 years. The villagers have revived the traditional savad system. It means all families, whether rich or poor, work on each others fields involved in sowing, harvesting etc. This has eliminated the need for farm labour. This co-operation has been extended to all activities. Nobody is alone here and this is perhaps the source of strength to beat all odds.
No wonder then, no one from Mhasvandi village has any interest in the muchhyped Rs 60,000-crore farm loan waiver.