Village Salikheda Buda
Success Story of Village Salikheda Buda
Village Salikheda Buda is a hamlet of village Khamkheda which is 40 kms away from sehore in Bawadiyachor panchayat in Sehore district. All most 200 years before the grant parents of the present village Salikheda buda was given some land for a minimum payment of Rs 100 by the forest department.
They are of Barela community of adiwasi group. There are 62 families living in different hamlets. They used to walk 20-40 kilometers for daily labor with a meager payment of Rs 10 for women and 15 for man. The husband and wife live in the work area leaving the old parents and their children at home. When the work is completed they return back home. They did tough work. Latter they got settled in the forest land which is given to them with Patta (ownership). They prepared the land for cultivation with the permission of the forest authorities. Even though people are experienced in agriculture they have no agriculture facilities like tractor pipe pump, fertilizers etc. They did not have nether organic nor inorganic fertilizers. The village had no growth at all. They had a very tough life no market and no medical facilities available. For every work they had to walk this 20 Km to Bilkishganj as there was no transport facilities too. They were living with the forest production only.
In the year 2020, the organization CEROWC visited our village. They called all of us together for a meeting. Very few people attended the meeting because we were afraid of them. Since many group like this had come to us earlier telling we will assist you in agriculture and collected our money, but to our bad luck they never returned. Seeing the Sister and her colleagues we began to say these people will make us Christian. So we were all the more afraid. When they came to us we used to go far away from them.
One day all the CEROWC staff came to the village and gave awareness to us about the activities of the NGO. They called us by name and began to talk to us for two three months, they never took anything from us instead they began to give more awareness. Then they explained to us what their intention is. Meanwhile we heard from village Bawdiachor and Balondia about CEROWC and their activities and. What they have done for them. Slowly we began to contact them one day we called CEROWC organization to our village and heard from them about their activities. We wanted to organize SHG and farmers club in our village too. Since people were afraid, we could get only 12 families for the first time.
12 of us together made a SHG group and we collected Rs. 100 each and a total of Rs 1200. They gave us books to write the report and a box to keep the collections and made a pass book for each person and kept the collected money in the box and gave back to us. Bata Veeru Singh was elected as the president of the SHG, a well accepted woman. Slowly two more groups and a famers club were made and we became very active.
Slowly we joined with CEROWC and started taking part in the meeting and their activities. Mr. Khemchand Dhurve the Entertainer gave us awareness on IGA, kitchen garden, vegetable garden, compost etc. We expressed our need to him that there is no water for us to cultivate all that we have a pit here, during the rain we get some water collected and we use it.
The Kolar dam is nearby but we have no facilities available to bring water. Then we asked Mr.Kemchand for assistance of Engine, Pipes, sprinkler etc. He guided us to collect the local contribution for it. Both SHGs shared their money and with some loan they submitted it to the organization and purchased it from Gayatri Traders Bhopal and kirlosker pump from Poly marketing private limited Bhopal. They began to cultivate vegetable. Seeing this farmers club also approached Mr.Kemchand for the assistance of a pump set and pipes. The organization helped them too. But the production was less. Once CEROWC organized an awareness programme for us on sustainable agriculture. We are taken to different training centers to learn about different methods of agriculture and equipment; manure etc .What struck us more was the preparation of land and manure. We went to CEROWC office and requested for assistance for preparation of land.
CEROWC was willing to help us during the summer but they could not help us because it was forest land. We took pump and pipes and we got sufficient water from Kolar dam. That year we had sown green gram and we had a very good harvest. With that we repaid all our loans taken for the engines and pipes. As we got pumps and pipes from CEROWC and have water for 24 hrs a day and guidance of CEROWC the agriculture production grew well. Those who were getting 2 to 3 quintals of wheat from one acre began to get 10 quintals of wheat. Thus the production of our land increased ad the income of family too.
Since the land was not fertile CEROWC advised us to make compost pit and make manure instead of inorganic manure. Thus 2 SHGs started making compost manure. Now we are using organic manure in our field. Last Kharif crop we cultivated maize and last Rabi crop we used compost manure and we had a very good production i.e in the place of 3 quintal we got 20 quintal of production. In the summer since we have had enough water, we took 3rd crop of green gram and had good production of it. 15 to 20 families reduced inorganic manure and use organic manure and medicines.
As a result their family income increased they grew financially their social status also grew and they began to eat good food, wear good cloth, began go for parties, began to say little English words greet each other girls children are sent to school especially sent them to boarding schools etc They began to come together and discuses their social problems, greet each other, began to put our signatures instead of thumb impression, child marriage stopped. This year 1 girl child passed out 10th class and she is sending for the higher studies to the hostel in Sehore. In the place of single crop they began to take 3 crops. We refunded our all loans taken pipes and pumps sets. We opened personal bank accounts too. We also started grain bank and seed bank so that we can save good seeds for the coming years and collect grain to distribute as an when we are in need of.
The women who were employed in kitchen, washing the cloth cleaning the cow shed etc. began to get little time for their needs. This year they are planning to grade wheat gram etc. Organization provides us fruit trees we are growing it well because of the pipes pumps given to us. For any silly reason we used to fight like cats and dogs. Now began to tolerate and forgive one another which was not in our dictionary. Thus the objective of the project is being fulfilled- Improving food security and financial situation of the house in 15 village of Sehore districts. The women they come together and celebrate the feasts and take food together, sing and dance.
We are grateful to KKS/ BMZ and CEROWC for bringing us up. It is our humble prayer that God may shower his choice of blessing up on all of you.