Collective Action : Ratanpur village
May 28, 2019
Story
Empowerment
Tribal from Ajodhya hills in West Bengal, India reached Ratanpur village in Purulia district to take lessons. It was arranged by GVT working there. Visitors were all male members . On the other, trainers were of opposite sex representing different of Self Help Groups . Recently these ShGs came into light. Success stories of them had been published in news papers. Their stories were covered in local media. Batu Rajowar is the leader. She mobilized women in participating agriculture collectively. Under her guidance,women sowed turmeric. First time turmeric was grown in commercial scale in Ratanpur and surroundings. Batu along with her mates tilled the land, and did other operations in their own way. she taught others how to process and package turmeric dust. She attended agricultural fairs and sold homemade pure turmeric. This gave a new hope to many young women. Ajodhya tribal came to see ,share and learn Batu's activities. Ajodhya tribal were surprised in seeing that Women can do agriculture without any intervention or support from males. They vowed to carry the success story in home. My hats off to those challenging guys of Ratanpur.