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Written by Mohammad Imran
Srinagar — Poverty pushed Shahzada Akhtar, a young woman from south Pulwama, to the brink of suicide. She was battling depression due to her unemployment and the pressure of paying off her father’s debts.
Like many Kashmiri women, Akhtar is the breadwinner for her elderly parents and siblings, and will likely do odd jobs to help make ends meet.
“My father borrowed money from many people to support his family, but he could not pay them back on time. Our creditors were putting pressure on us.
“I used to do irregular jobs like cleaning apple orchards, but these jobs are seasonal and when it snows, my income stops,” Akhtar said over the phone through an interpreter. Ta.
She knows little Hindi or Hindustani and speaks only Kashmiri.
“It became so difficult for our family that we even stopped buying milk and the only luxury in our diet was tea without milk. It was a time when I felt extremely hopeless and suicidal. ” says Akhtar, looking back on those difficult days.
She added that as the Quran says, “Innama’al usri yusran (Indeed, with every hardship comes relief).” This wisdom was realized word by word.
“In 2015, I got in touch with my friend Nilufer, who was visiting Andhra Pradesh in connection with government vocational training under the banner of National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).
“She was taught to start many easily established businesses like sewing set up, goat rearing, cow rearing, cattle rearing, domestic dairy farming etc. Once, Ms. Nilufer along with the NRLM officials I visited our area and advised women to earn $10,” said a member of a self-help group.
“They told us about a plan known as Umedh (lit. hope). As part of this plan, we had to register a team or company and open a bank account. In this account, we received 25 rupees a week. had to be submitted.
“It was difficult for me at that time to even make ends meet with Rs 25 a week. Anyway, all the members of the group deposited the required amount. And slowly, we were able to save Rs 3,000 in our account. It’s done.
“This amount was to be given to give momentum to one of our members to start a business,” Akhtar recalled. She added that even opening a bank account and managing it was an experience for most group members.
“Then, a project resource officer from NRLM visited our village and audited our bank account. All its transactions were found to be perfect. It earned a grade A and our The group was sanctioned Rs.15,000 as part of the charity fund.
“This 15,000 rupees was divided equally among the three members. One person, who was good at sewing, bought a sewing machine and started a tailoring business. Another person bought goats for a future goat farm. I bought several.
“However, I was at a loss as to what to do with my share of 5,000 rupees. I was worried about my family’s creditors and wanted to pay them back with this money. However, that was the purpose of the subsidy. Then the ease came again.
“The NRLM transferred an additional Rs 40,000 to our bank account to fund future plans. Sensing my distress, the group members handed over the money to me and now He advised me to buy a cow. At first I was hesitant but I accepted the offer and advice,” Akhtar said.
But buying the cow didn’t solve the problem, she said. She says: “Cows need special space in every household, and in order to benefit from them, they must be fed and cared for properly.
“Our house was a small house. Somehow we built a makeshift cow shed along the wall of the house,” Akhtar said.
Thus, Akhtar’s dairy business is ready to take off with the cows. “Another relief. As part of the Umed project, I received a bullock cart for the milking machine.
“It makes pumping and transporting milk a lot easier. So I started selling milk every day, half a kilo, one kilo, one and a half kilos…I kept depositing money into my bank account regularly. Although my income was small, I enjoyed my work and was active.
“Earlier, I was transporting milk all by myself to customers. The NRLM officials were happy with my progress. They loaned me Rs 1 million to expand my business. I bought more cows and currently have 25 cows on my farm.
“I sell around 300 liters of dairy products and pay regular EMIs on bank loans. Earlier, as I said, there was no milk in our tea. Now. Now, thankfully, we can now provide milk to our guests,” Akhtar said, his voice choked with gratitude to Allah and the government.
This is the barkat (blessings of Allah) in her business and Ms. Akhtar has employed many women from rural areas in her business. Unemployed, her brothers opened a shop in Pulwama district and sell milk, cheese and curd.
Indeed, with every hardship comes peace. Shahzada Akhtar (21), a resident of South Pulwama, is proof of that.
— The author is a Kashmir-based researcher at JNU, New Delhi.
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