Game-changer in quiet villages of Solapur

Game-changer in quiet villages of Solapur

Context:

• It is not before less than two years that woman in Waluj village of Mohol Taluka in Solapur district, 400 km from Mumbai, knew what a gram sabha was.

The turning point:

• Before the onset of 2017 summer, over 50 women marched to the gram sabha demanding job cards so they could get work under the Employment Guarantee Scheme.
• The women also pressured the gram panchayat to provide filtered water to all the households in the village.
• The gram panchayat had never seen such collective activism before and within a month, all 50 protesters received job cards.
• The women formed self help groups (SHGs) under Umed, a State-led initiative under the Maharashtra State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM), which in turn is part of National Rural Livelihood Mission.
• The programme aims to empower women by engaging them in innovative agricultural practices and giving them a steady source of income.
• Government officials at the village and block level mobilise women to avail of finance for their homes, farms or even small businesses.
• Women began to cultivate over 20 types of produce, including vegetables, cereals, pulses and fruits.
• Women have started an information centre at the village where organic farming techniques are taught to everybody who visits it.
• They  now work along with the local gram panchayat, whose members guide farmers to visit the information centre to learn about organic farming.