"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.
After lots of hurdles and hi-cups, a couple of married lovers got fresh lease of life on Thursday. Courtesy the Gauahti High Court.A division bench of Gauhati High Court comprising Chief Justice J Chalameswar and Justice B Upadhyaya has recognised the marriage of Nazimuddin Chaudhury of Hati Khula in Karimganj and Sania Ahmed of Beltola a valid one despite stiff opposition by thier family members.Sania, a resident of Beltola in the city of Guwahati secretly got married to Najimuddin in September, 2005 but to be rejected by the family members of both of them forcing them to move a petition before the Gauhati High Court.The court took up the case on Thursday and passed a landmark judgment...
Assam Chief Minister has appointed 86 primary school teachers in 12 disitrcts. The appointment letters were distributed at a function on Thursday at Dispur. In yet another decision, the government has decied to extend the retire period for 2 years to the recipients of the president award and one for the teachers who received the state award.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has offered to quit politics if the pro-talk ULFA rebels could show the evidence that they helped Congress come to power. Addressing a press conference in Dispur on Thursday, Gogoi said he and his party needed no help from ULFA and other terrorist outfits to come to the hot seat. Gogoi found it strange and said ULFA boycotted the elections but now they claimed thier help. "I would quit politics if they can prove what they claim," said the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister further said a Rs 2100 crore fiscal deficit awaits Assam due to the global melt down. But in the same breath, he denied any closure of job opportunities.
Government have considered and approved the request of the Assam Government for conversion of Institute of Advanced Studies in Science and Technology (IASST), Guwahati, presently under the Government of Assam, into an autonomous grants-in-aid institute of the Government of India, under the Department of Science and Technology. This would meet the hopes and aspirations of people of Assam and North Eastern Region.IASST would endeavour to spot local scientific talent and inspire them to attain national and global level of competence. This would lead to enrichment of the culture of scientific research and would have significant impact on the development of resources of the Assam and the Region...
A police officer was killed another gangman was injured when suspected DHD(J) rebels attacked a group of workers engaged on a railway tract at Langting in North Cachar hills district on Thursday.According to information, the incident took place at around 10-30 in the morning at the railway tracts at Langting at a distance of 100 kilometer from the Haflong police station.The deceased, who died on the spot has yet to be identified as police officer identified as some Baglary who was at work died on the spot while a gangman Anil Dey sustained injury. He has been rushed to the Lumding Hospital.
Two hardcore ULFA militants died during a heavy gunfight between ULDA and police and security forces in Majuli on Thursday morning.According to information, acting on a tip off that a team of ULFA rebels was hiding in the area, a joint police and CRPF team launched an operation in Balijan.Heavy exchange of firing came up as the joint team encountered ULFA militants. One of the slained ULFA rebels was suspected to be Bhaskar Hazarika. Police suspect these rebels came from the Myanmar-based camps through Nagaland.Later police recovered an AK-47 rifle aong with some other ammunition.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has announced exemption of entertainment tax on the movie in the state a day after India-based Slumdog Millionaire got the Oscars.The Chief Minister said the entire nation was proud of the award winning team and the government has responded to it by exempting tax to enable more and more people to watch the movie.He further congratulated the movie's team members and hailed the feat of sound recordists from the state Amrit Pritam who worked as a deputy to Resul Pookutty, the winner of the Oscar best sound mixing award for 'Slumdog Millionaire'.
Hardly a month after the elephant festival to counter the man-elephant conflcit, a villager was trampled to death by a wild elephant in the outskirts of the Kaziranga National Park on Tuesday. The deceased was identified as Gopal Barua who trampled to death in his home at Hatikhuli village by the tusker which got separated from its herd and strayed out of the national park at Hatikhuli village. The forest department sources said the department is taking measures to drive the tusker back to the park.
The National Democratic Front of Bodoland is moving a petition at a special tribunal in Delhi on Wednesday with an appeal to withdraw a ban clamped by the government a few years back.According to information, the high level team led by its chairman Dhiren Boro, general secretary Govinda Basumatary along with several other top ranked leaders camping in the capital are set to appeal before the special tribunal led by Justice S N Agarwalla. The Bodo rebel outfit would be represented by Assam's senior advocate Nekibur Zaman who left for Delhi on Tuesday.Notably, the Union home ministry in a notification issued in November, 2008 asked NDFB to appear before the tribunal on February 25, 2009.
The menace of Stone-man in the city has revealed the overall inefficiency and discriminating attitude of the police & administration towards the victims to a greater extent. The criminal(s) has gone on killing spree in the virtual capital of Northeast India and till date he has targeted the prey more than 12 times in the last 50 days. At least seven homeless beggars died because of the attacks.Journalists’ Forum, Assam has organized a Citizen’s Meet to discuss the issue and adopt resolutions concerning the social security of the city in Guwahati Press Club on February 28 next. Every one is invited to participate in the meeting that will begin on 1 pm.
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