Woman Power for a New Horizon
Yagrung is a remote village in district Pashighat of Arunachal Pradesh, nestled in the lap of lofty mountains and naturally endowed with an abundance of gurguling streams. This sleepy village can only be reached by crossing two rivulets and becomes largely inaccessible during the monsoon months. Amidst this natural splendour, quiet revolution is taking pace here as fifteen women reshape their lives.
When the Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) launched thier intervention for Self Help Groups(SHG) in the area, enterprising women of Api Bekang SHG participated in the project wholeheartedly. They recieved training on cultivation of tomato, strawberry, passion fruit, saobean and flowers. They also learnt to prepare a soybean based health drink which tastes like Horlicks. In addition, they gained expertise in making pickles and sweets. They then participated in two exposure visits to Shillong and the North- East Kisan Mela at Mizoram. These were valuable trips that educted them about the immense opportunities avalaible to them, and helping them to realise their potential.
The women set up stalls for selling their products at these events and received tremendous response from visitors. It made them ambitious to become economically more self- reliant. Soon, they started a micro- savings programme and accumulated an amount of Rs. 45,000. This amount was used as a revolving fund to give small loans to the members for purchasing raw materials and for meeting other expenditures. As one of the ladies of the group said, "Once you learn to help yourself through collective action, you ensure a life of dignity for all times to come."