My JATARA visit on 2nd & 3rd July, 2011

I went to Jatara (in Tikamgarh District of M.P.) after 3 years (my last day that I spent there was on 12th June, 2008) for the Annual General Body Meeting (GBM) of the cooperative (Mahila Murgi Utpadak Swayat Sahakarita, Jatara). I was so thrilled to attend such gathering of more than 200 women (from nearby 10 villages) whom I personally I knew before. I was so happy to see the cooperative that I formed, registered, transacted business in the capacity of its CEO for over 2 years is running successfully even now. The cooperative members reared close to 6 lakh broiler chicks in FY – 2010-11, sold close to 700 tonnes of live poultry birds worth over 4.3 crore rupees. The cooperative distributed over 35 lakhs as grower margin to the 221 members.

I am even gladder to see that 150 more women producers are slated to be added under SGSY special project. In terms of infrastructure creation, the cooperative made wonderful strides. It got 25000 Sq. ft. land leased from Industry Department of M.P. Govt. for a period of 30 years. The feed factory which I made operational in a rented premise is now in cooperative’s own building with a bigger grinder, mixer and a generator. All the investment in the feed plant (close to 25 lakhs) came from cooperative’s own funds. I am sure that the cooperative will soon construct its own Office also in near future. When the new producers also start their production in couple of years, I am certainly hopeful that the cooperative will be rearing more than 1 lakh birds per month with annual live weight of over 1000 tonnes worth more than 10 crores.

I was in a doubt for a moment whether I was really there 6 years ago in 2005 struggling to convince the women to take up poultry. It took 6 months to get started with the first batch of 2000 birds then. Now, they sell close to 20000 birds in a week in an area where there was not even a single broiler farm 6 years before. When I experienced the reality myself and saw the happiness on the faces of women, I rejoiced the time that I spent there. All struggle, pain, long hours of work looked so small. In fact, they looked so sweet that I thanked God for giving me such an opportunity to go and work there. I cannot ask anything more than the love that all the staff gave me there and the affection that women showered upon me.

What is more worthwhile in life than going to such unfortunate places (in terms of geography – poor soil quality, deficient rainfall, remoteness, oppressive feudal structure, poor education & health facilities and what not) and promote viable commercial activities which can stand the test of market reality? What is more heartening than 200 tribal and dalit women sitting together to discuss the financial position of their cooperative & make future expansion plans? It becomes even more stupendous when we look at in the background of the societal reality there where women cannot unveil in front of an outsider nor can they go out on their own to transact financial matters. Such commercial activity makes even bigger statement when we look it in the context of a district with no single notable operational industry.
The GBM was so lively with so many women gathering at one place with songs, local slogans and many lighter moments (like garlanding one another). I got completely immersed spending time with women from various villages recounting the countless visits, meetings that I was part of either for shed construction, production or marketing. I passed on the mike to them and gave opportunity to express their concerns, register their grievances. The women really enjoyed speaking with the mike and I could sense increased confidence in their communication. Everybody was asking about my health (whether my reduced weight is due to any ill-health or not getting sufficient roti in time), my marriage, my parents etc. Everybody wants to see me as Tikamgarh collector, come more often to Jatara and address their concerns. My eyes were filled with tears several times during the AGM out of so much of happiness.

After the AGM was over, the supervisors and staff members came to me recalling those days when producing poultry birds and selling them looked very arduous. Though it is not so easy even now, experiences over 5 years increased the comfort level of everyone. Poultry being an intense commercial activity dealing with livestock offers tremendous challenge for the CEO of the cooperative to develop as a person who can do troubleshooting anytime anywhere. I can recall several such challenging situations like delay in the arrival of chicks’ vehicle, refusal of labour to unload maize or poultry feed, vehicle being caught by police on the way, some disease detected and the hurry to sell all the birds quickly and many more. But the variety is added by the problems related to trust deficit in the villages convincing the producers that accounts are transparent.

The next day, I woke up at 6 and straightaway went to see as many villages as possible. I was greeted with so much of love that I had to stop and have a talk with everyone. I did informal meetings everywhere, had food in one producer’s poultry shed and came back to Jatara only in the evening in a hurry to catch the train at Jhansi which I could do miraculously in the last 2 minutes. The turnaround in Ghatia, Pathara villages is the most memorable experience this time. I was always guilty when I went to Delhi that I could not streamline production in these two villages. Now, they are producing so well that the Best Producer of the cooperative award went to Ladkunwar bai from Pathara. All the producers from Jarua took Rabo bank loan, constructed a second shed and are now eager to construct a third shed as well. Dhaniram took some memorable pictures during my interaction in villages that I will cherish for long.

I saw Venky’s chicks when they arrived from Indore and could feel their innocence when I took them into my hands. I stopped eating non-veg after I left Jatara 3 years ago as an example of self-restraint. But, my love for poultry as a viable activity for the rural poor has only increased manifold since then. I am sure that poultry apart from providing some vital supplementary income has imparted lot many crucial lessons to the tribal women. They can now appreciate hygiene better, understand the role of prophylactic measures, vaccination, bio-security which they can very well apply in their own lives.

I met so many children of producers and was asking them about their studies. I was also enquiring whether any of them could get any job after I left. Unfortunately, the quality of education there does not give them the confidence to compete and get good jobs. I kept telling the producers that I want to see their children doing jobs like me. I must ensure quality education to the children wherever I get an opportunity to work. It needs lot more imagination than rearing poultry and is more rewarding for the families.

Dhaniram and Nandkishore were telling me that I did not change at all in 3 years in terms of my approach and attitude. I wish that I will never change in terms of my enthusiasm to work in Jatara like places. Nothing is else is more fulfilling than creating 20 more such institutions in different districts and states. I wish God gives me all the energy to do so. It is great to see that Deka, Mridu, Jagannath and others are dedicatedly working for poultry. I wish there are many more like them. Can we encourage more people to take up the challenge of rural livelihoods’ creation? I wish I find some answers that will lead to outcomes.