The women of Gaura village in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, have rewritten their destiny by taking matters into their hands. The women not only released the entire village from debt but also brought those men, who had wandered to cities in search of jobs, back home. 

The result of their hard work is blooming and has not only made their lives happier but also set an example for others. Gaura Village in Varanasi has now become home to several women farm labourers. The increasing debt and lack any source of income forced the men to leave for the cities in search of a livelihood.

In an interview with The Quint, the women of Gaura village said that the situation had become really bad. The men had taken loans from the local moneylenders, but they were unable to pay the debt. With no other option left they migrated in search of jobs. The village was stuck with an economic crisis and that was the time when the women took over and started group farming.

The women formed a small group of 15 ladies and each one of them contributed around Rs 20, which was a huge amount then. After collecting enough money, they used it to pay the debts and get back the lands. “We started the group with collections of Rs 20 each. At the time, even Rs 20 was too much for us. We rented the farms from Brahmins, to whom we owed the money. We started cultivating vegetables and flowers. Soon, we began repaying our debts,” says Chanda Mourya, the group leader.

After getting positive results and when all the debts were paid off, all the men also returned back to the village. Now Gaura has four such groups of women farmers and, inspired by their success, 35 more such groups were formed in nearby villages. These groups have a yearly turnover of around Rs 7 crore.

The women in the village are very happy now and say, “After the groups were formed and we began farming, money started pouring in. We could send our children to schools. We could eat good food and wear good clothes.” Now if anyone wants to take a loan, they need not go to the moneylenders. The groups provide them with money. Explaining the loan process, a woman said, “If someone needs Rs 10,000, they are given the amount. The form fee is Rs 100. The rate of interest is two percent, the interest is distributed among all the members.”

The women of Gaura village from Varanasi has set an example for many others.

H/T: The Quint