Daijiworld Media Network – Uttara Kannada (MS)

Uttara Kannada, Jun 6: An accident turned the entire direction of Yellapura taluk's Arabailu village resident Mahadevi Ganapati Arer's life.

Mahadevi was working as a daily wage labourer in an arecanut farm. Her husband Ganapathi Arer, who was a construction labourer met with an accident at work. Later, his health also worsened. After spending Rs 2 lac, the doctors told Mahadevi that her husband cannot do hard work anymore. Mahadevi was devastated as her two sons were still studying in school.

Though Mahadevi continued working in arecanut farms, the income was not enough. So she started looking for other alternatives. She joined a self-help group and an NGO trained her in dairy production. It occured to her that this was possible for her to do.

Mahadevi obtained a loan of Rs 70, 000 from an NGO and bought a cow. She started selling four liters of milk everyday at Rs 20 per liter. At the end of the first month, she earned Rs 3,480 more. After taking out the expenses, she was able to save Rs 1500. Later she bought one more cow and within two years she had four cows. Later, she saw the progress of her business and decided to take a personal loan of Rs 6 lac.

Mahadevi who is 45 years old now has 12 cattle. She sells 100 liters of milk everyday and her daily income has shot up to Rs 3000. She gets 80 liters of milk from the cows and sells 40 liters to KMF. In addition, she also sells cow dung, which is used as a manure.

Mahadevi is able to provide suitable medical treatment to her husband as well as take care of the educational expenses of her two children. She has already paid back 50 percent of the loan amount.

Now this gritty lady is thinking of expanding her business and providing livelihood to some other women also. She is thinking of expanding her land.

Mahadevi says, “My next aim is to extend my farm land and also release my own brand of milk and milk products into the market. This is a challenging job but I am confident that I will succeed in it.”