Darbar Sahitya Sansad

Jayannti Jena is a farmer from Badamachhapur, a village belonging to Orissa’s Puri district. A third cycle borrower, she has been availing Rang De loans to cultivate paddy and vegetables on her two-acre farm. Aside from agriculture, she rears a few cows at home that provide an important income for her family during the off-season.

Earlier this year, she planted parwal, a type of pointed gourd that is very popular in Orissa and that sells well in the local market. Jayannti says she received a 15% return on her last investment and earned a monthly income of Rs.3000 shortly after the harvest. An energetic woman, she is in the habit of multi-tasking throughout the month and takes care of all duties while her husband Khirendra is away on work.

Her efforts both on and off the farm enable her three daughters to go to school, much to the delight of the unlettered parents. Jayannti is very particular about providing a good environment for her young girls and is supervising the construction of a toilet for her home thanks to the Swacch Bharat scheme.

Since she has two loans to repay, she is not looking at making any further improvements to either her farm or the milk business. Once the loans are repaid in full, she plans to buy one more cow and is considering sowing paddy for the next growing season.

Thank you for supporting Jayannti’s farm loan with a contribution. If you would like to help other borrowers from Orissa, please click on the link.

The people of Badamachhapur are primarily farmers, living off the produce they grow and the livestock they rear. Nearly all of them own small landholdings which give them food for their families with a little leftover to sell at the market. The scenario for landless farmers is far more difficult as they rely on wages and irregular earnings from the sale of livestock. In the case of Hulash Jena, the small plot of land her family owned was sold to pay for a daughter’s wedding. With nothing left that could bring home an income, Hulash and her husband Rabi worked long hours as labourers and eventually saved enough to invest in a few goats.

This gave them a reasonable profit every once in a while and helped tide them over a few months when labour work was in short supply. At the time she connected with Rang De, Hulash had only one goat and could not buy more without outside intervention. Like so many other women who turn to us for financial assistance, she had no credit history or collateral that could be used to get a loan. Whenever money was urgently required, Rabi would go to a local moneylender and be subject to interest rates as high as 60% per annum.

When Hulash joined an SHG, she learnt that there were alternatives that would work out better for her credit requirements. Initially, she and Rabi were worried that they would somehow end up paying off an expensive loan but hearing the reassurances of other women who had availed our loans in the past, decided to apply for one. Hulash now has a small herd of goats, having bought two with the loan funds. The animals are healthy and in two-three months’ time, will be ready for sale.

Your contribution has been instrumental in meeting Hulash’s loan request on time. Thank you for your support. If you would like to help other borrowers from Orissa, please click on the link.