Nitu Nagpure’s face glows as she recounts the past five years of her life, when she launched the first self-help group in her village Boda in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh. The 30-year-old narrates the journey – in her own words.
I was born and raised in a farmer’s home in Thema village in Balaghat.
I hold a postgraduate degree in Hindi, but couldn’t pursue a career due to cultural barriers.
I was married into a farming family in Boda village. I moved to Boda after my marriage in 2015.
I saw that women in Boda didn’t enjoy much freedom just like in Thema.
Boda is primarily a village of farmers, where women didn’t have much say in anything.
I decided to do something to improve the living conditions of the women.
I discussed my ideas with my husband who has studied till class 10 but when I discussed my ideas with him, he was more than happy to support me
In 2017 I formed the first self-help group (SHG) in Boda.
As I got busier, my husband began lending his hand in house chores.
We now take turns to stay at home to take care of our 2-year-old son.
My parents-in-law who live separately also pitch in and baby-sit whenever the need arises. Or I take my son to the panchayat centre where meetings take place.
My husband’s support is very reaffirming for me, motivates me to work towards my passion of creating an impact in the lives of women around me.
Now people have started referring to him as my husband.
At first only he had belief in me. Now, the whole village has faith in my actions.
My journey got a further boost in 2019, when Tara Nagpure, better known as Bua ji, joined my venture.
An elderly relative, Bua ji helped me connect with more villagers.
Together we formed 10 more SHGs.
In April 2022, Reliance Foundation Information Services (RFIS) started their intervention in the village.
I became the entry point for RFIS in the village.
Through RFIS we got timely advisory on sowing, nurturing and plant protection measures for our paddy crop.
However, despite the cautious steps nearly 70% of the farmers were affected because of stem borer infestation.
With RFIS’ intervention, we just had to spend Rs 400 per acre, for controlling stem borer infestation. if not for the timely information, during the complete crop season we would have incurred a cumulative cost Rs 15,000 that we would have spent if we’d only followed the suggestions of agri-input shops.
RFIS also helps us connect with experts through multiple mobile-based platform group, which increases productivity.
The rice production has risen from 8-9 quintals to 18-19 quintals per acre.
But I couldn’t have done this without the participation of the other women in Boda, more than 60% of whom have studied only till high school.
Earlier the head of the family used to give the women a meagre amount for their personal expenses.
But now they have more money in hand. Average monthly household income has gone up to about Rs 10,000 from Rs 7,000-8,000.
Women use it mostly for children’s education.
Now, about half of the women in the village use mobile phones to gain information about agriculture and livestock.
I help the other women post their queries on the mobile group.
We also use common video streaming platforms, but mostly for watching entertainment serials.
The lead image at the top shows Nitu Nagpure connecting with experts through mobile phone messaging (Photo by Reliance Foundation Information Services)
Reporting by Anilkumar Raidas, Jubin Mathew, Balakumar Sudalaimuthu, Sharika C, Senthilkumaran Krishnan of Reliance Foundation Information Services