Prayagraj: Rural women of Sangam city — who once confined to the thresholds of their homes— are not only turning self-reliant but are also inspiring others to join hands and carve out their own distinct identities.Resident of Alhawa village (Koraon development block) Rajkumari Singh has scripted a major success story. Her husband, Dhaneshwar Prasad Singh, is a marginal farmer. However, she didn’t confined herself to household chores and kitchen duties, but opted for a job as a ‘Shiksha Mitra’ (para-teacher) to help run the household. She eventually left the job due to a lack of cooperation from the local village head .Despite living in a rural setting, Rajkumari—who holds an MA in Sanskrit—did not lose heart. She learnt about the ‘Aajeevika Mission’ and in 2012, formed the ‘Maa Vindhyavasini Mahila Swayam Sahayata Samuh’ (Women’s Self-Help Group) with them. Building on this momentum, she set up a Farmer Producer Company (FPC) for women farmers in 2022.Now, Rajkumari serves as a director of this company, which has achieved a turnover of Rs 2.21 crore to date.In Prayagraj district, the ‘Maa Vindhyavasini Prerna Producer Company’ has become a shining example of the dedication and spirit of rural women farmers.Shama Singh, Deputy Commissioner (National Rural Livelihood Mission) said that there are nine Farmer Producer Companies in the district, involving over 4,000 rural women. Among them, the Maa Vindhyavasini Prerna Producer Company has carved out a unique niche for itself. The company’s CEO, Anoop Tiwari, pointed out that there are currently 894 women working across various sectors within the company. Initially, these women began by supplying fertilizers, pesticides, and animal feed and later started producing and selling bio-fertilizers.To facilitate this, the women began rearing cattle at their homes and established a bio-fertilizer plant that utilizes the cattle dung. This marked the beginning of the bio-fertilizer packaging and sales operations. The company has now developed its own brands of Sonachur and Kalanamak rice and it procures the paddy from local farmers who cultivate these varieties, processes it into rice, packages the product, and brings it to the market.
