"I am the first woman farmer in my block who started cultivation 15 years back," said 45 years old Aisha Begum Khatoon of Hridaypur village in Ambedkarnagar district. When she picked up the hoe for the first time, all the villagers rebuked her for treading on a man's domain. However, she decided to move forward, despite all odds, in order to look after her three daughters and one son.
Her husband lives in the city and takes no interest in agricultural activities. She owns a mere half acre land, but by resorting to organic farming, she is able to provide bread and better to her family of five members. She is now able to produce more than 20 varieties of crops, thanks to organic farming, and has become a role model for other women farmers of her area. Aisha Begum is grateful to the Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group (GEAG), for teaching her multi-layer cropping patterns, as well as time and space management.
Organic farming has provided her with a sustainable and economically viable model of agriculture production. She is also involved with Ekta Self Help Group and is the President of NARI Manch (this forum provides agriculture related information to women farmers). She has also been successful in creating more than 250 self help groups. Now her husband and her other family members take pride in her work. The Uttar Pradesh state agriculture Minister, Mr Chaudhari Laxmi Narayan, awarded her recently, during the Kisaan Sansad (Farmers' Parliament), in recognition of her excellent work in agriculture production.
Women farmers, despite being one of the biggest labor forces in India, are still fighting for their rights and identity. In India more than 84 per cent of women are involved in agricultural and/or allied activities. The agricultural sector provides employment to nearly 4/5 of the total women work force in India. One third of the agricultural laborers are women and 48 per cent of the women farmers are considered self employed in the agriculture sector.
According to a study conducted by GEAG, in Uttar Pradesh, 70 per cent of the state's population is involved in agricultural activities, making it a food surplus state. Women family members of about 80% of small and marginal farmers are involved in agricultural activities.Yet land holding rights of women farmers are a mere 6.5 per cent out of which a majority of them (81 per cent) got their land after the death of their husband, while only 19 per cent got it from their mother's side.
Neelam Prabhat, State Coordinator, Aaroh Abhiyaan, (a campaign for the empowerment of women farmers and their rights) working in GEAG, Uttar Pradesh said, "despite the tremendous contribution of women farmers in agricultural sector ,they have always been marginalized and denied their rights, not only by their family and society ,but by the policy makers as well. In general, they are treated as the assistants of male farmers."
She further said, " According to a recent report published by The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 40 million people have been pushed into hunger this year mostly due to soaring food prices, and the number of undernourished people worldwide is approaching the 1-billion mark. We can reduce this number if we empower women farmers and give them land holdings rights and joint bank accounts with their husbands."
The total number of hungry people has risen to 963 million this year, up from 923 million last year. FAO has cautioned, in the latest edition of its global hunger report, that this number could rise further as a result of the ongoing financial and economic crisis. In view of this we should strengthen production in a comprehensive way and should give the rights, long over due, to women farmers. In this way they will become an asset, not only to their families but also to society and the entire country.
PermalinkSubmitted by rakib ahmad on Sun, 28/03/2010 - 15:14
Thanks Amit, for the inspiring story of a marginalised woman farmer in UP. I am working at grassroots level in Assam. Separation of land patta in favour of daughters sh be completed by fathers in their lifetime. 2ndly' Issuing landholding certificates by circle officers/ tehsildars in favour of woman sh be legally made mandatory, within say, 100 days of application. Due to lack of land papers, woman farmers find it difficult to form acceptable groups for subsidy.
Over 14,000 selected candidates received appointment orders from Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi at a function in Sarusajai on Saturday. The appointment of lower and upper primary teachers is on contract basis. In his address, education minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the remaining TET successful candidates would also be appointed in a phase manner. On Saturday, 13,386 TET successful candidates received appointment orders as lower primary teachers.
Normalcy is back to the BTAD areas. There is no report of any new incidents of violence from Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts during the last 48 hours. But night curfew is in place in all three districts and security forces are maintaining constant vigil. Altogether 77 people died in the strife since July 19, while over four lakh have been displaced.
All Assam Students Union has warned the government not to allow the immigrants to settle in the name of rehabilitation package. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati on Sunday, the AASU leaders said that they would keep a close vigil on the rehabilitation works to ensure that not even a single immigrant is allowed to get the benefit.
The CPI(M) blamed it all on Dispur for failing to prevent the ethnic clashes in BTAD areas and Dhubri. The party further accused BJP of trying to give the clashes a communal colour. Talking to reporters on Sunday, CPM leader Uddhab Barman said that the state government failed to act on time when the first incidents of attack took place on July 19 and 20. He refuted allegations made by Advani and others that Bangladeshi immigrants are behind the violence.
A group of hardcore militant managed to flee n Majuli during a heavy exchange of fire on Sunday. The encounter took place at Kakh Chapori in the wee hours. Acting on a tip off police raided a hideout at around 4 in the morning. As police reached the spot the militants resorted to firing from nearby woods. When retaliated, the encounter took place which continued for a few minutes before the militants fled. Three walkie talkies, mobile sets, some batteries and two bags containing items of personal use were recovered from the site.Police are continuing search operations in the area to nab the militants.
Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA) has appealed to the people of Assam and northeast India to celebrate the forthcoming Independence Day (I-Day) defying the diktat of the militants. In a press statement, issued by JFA president Rupam Barua and secretary Nava Thakuria, the forum argues that both I-Day and Republic Day are two auspicious occasions for every patriotic Indian to pay their respect to hundred thousand martyrs of India's Freedom Movement.
Mentionable is that the anti-talk faction of the United liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) with many other outfits of the region have as usual called for a general strike on August 15. Others who have joined the chorus for boycotting the...
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shindhe will visit to the violence-hit BTAD areas on Monday. According to Assam Pradesh Committee, the duo are scheduled to arrive at the Gopinath Bordoiloi International airport at 10-30 in the morning. They would straightly leave for Kokrajhar to BTAD by a helicopter. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and other top officials of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee will also visit the BTAD area on the same day.
Health and education minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that high level probe would be ordered to ascertain the reasons behind the mysterious death of Madhurjya Barukiyal who was found floating in a pond inside the college campus on Friday.
According to AEC authority, Madhurjya, who hailed from Kamargaon in Golaghat, had gone to bath in the pond after playing a game of football on Friday evening. His body was later recovered from the pond. His body was sent for postmortem at the Guwahati Medical College and later taken to his hometown.
Family members of the boy claimed that it was a case of ragging and demanded a proper investigation into the incident.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has constituted the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee to be led by Bhubneswar Kalita. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Union Minister Pawan Singh Ghatowar, former Union Ministers B K Handique and Santosh Mohan Dev and Hemprabha Saikia have been made executive members in the newly-constituted Pradesh Congress Committee.
The newly-constituted PCC has eight Vice Presidents and 11 general secretaries. All MPs of the party from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been made permanent invitees to the Committee.
President of State Youth Congress and NSUI and all AICC office bearers from the state have been made permanent invitees. Former Speaker Seikh Chand Mohammed, state...
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has condemned the Mumbai violence and asked people to maintain calm. Talking to reporters in Guwahati after the violent protest in Mumbai, she talked his Maharashtra counterpart to ensure safety of the Assamese people in the state. The protesters suddenly turned violent and torched a media vehicle and damaged buses. They also pelted stones forcing police to open fire in the air and resorted to a lathi-charge to disperse the mob.
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