RANCHI: Jharkhand farmers being largely dependent on goat rearing, they used to suffer a lot till about five years ago due to a dearth of veterinary doctors in remote rural areas. But not anymore, thanks to ‘Doctor Didi’. She helps the villagers take care of their livestock and in practically every aspect of goat-rearing — from breeding to vaccination and even selling the cattle at good prices.
‘Doctor Didi’ is an idea conceptualised in 2013 by Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JLSPS), an autonomous body under state’s rural development department which acts as a nodal agency for implementation of livelihood missions. Working in the field, JSLPS found that though the villagers cared a lot for their goats, most of them died due to the owners’ ignorance and lack of veterinary support. People in villages had no money to pay the veterinarians who are usually reluctant to visit villages for treatment of goats.
A plan was prepared to select 13 women and give them basic training in goat management, breeding, feeding, de-worming, vaccination etc. After getting a good response, a second batch of 30 women was selected from self-help groups and trained. Today, the state has a cadre of about 4,000 ‘Doctor Didis’ who are not only helping the villagers increase the number of goats, but are also providing them access to markets through Ajivika Sansadhan Kendra and helping them get good price for their cattle.
“Doctor Didi is one of the unique cadres prepared by JSLPS that has been supporting hundreds of women in the villages to increase their earnings by providing assistance in goat rearing and selling,” said Kumar Vikash, programme manager (communications), JSLPS.
Doctor Didi is given training in three phases — three-day orientation, five-day induction and five-day refresher training, during which they are taught the technicalities of their role, responsibility, nature of duty, goat management, breeding, feeding, de-worming, vaccination, primary treatment and goat evaluation. They are also given information about herbal medicines. Finally, a five-day ‘trainers programme’ is conducted for preparing them to train others as ‘master trainers’.
“The concept is gaining popularity not only in Jharkhand, but outside the state also,” said the state rural development secretary and CEO of JSLPS. He said the JSLPS has provided training to women in Bihar under National Livelihood Mission after they sought support to develop a cadre of Doctor Didi. The first batch of 24 master trainers were sent there for 15 days, he said. “This concept was also selected as one of the best among different activities practised in various states during a two-day Adarsh Gram Yojana workshop at Bhopal in April,” said Laxmikant Swarnkar, livestock consultant, JSLPS.
The concept has also changed the lives of rural women in the state. “Doctor Didis are earning anything between `3,000 and `10,000 according to their capacity and training,” said Swarnkar. Most of them, who did not even know to ride a bicycle, now move on scooters bought with the money earned through services provided to the villagers as Doctor Didi, he added.
Some of the Doctor Didis even gave a presentation before a World Bank delegate on this unique concept. Balamdina Tirkey of Ranchi is one of them. She looks after the goats of around 100 households and earns `4,000 per month.