Vilappil panchayat is slowly getting a makeover, shedding its image of being the city’s dumping yard. Hundreds of women in the panchayat have taken to dairy farming in the past three years, scripting a ‘desi’ white revolution here.
Thanks to Ksheeradhara, a project which was initiated by the Vilappil panchayat, along with the Kudumbasree District Mission, in 2006. Vilappil is now one among the panchayats with the largest milk production in the district.
An agricultural panchayat, crops have never been faithful to the farmers here. The waste treatment plant gave another shock to the locals, who still bear the brunt of it. Locals accuse water pollution from the leachate of the plant as a reason for a good number of farmers bidding goodbye to their occupation. However, things are definitely better now, at least for a group of women with the arrival of Ksheeradhara.
Initially, it was started as a cow-rearing scheme for women. Panchayat officials, along with the Vilappil Veterinary Hospital, zeroed in on three milkers from SEWA, who gave training to 48 women in the first phase. It was then that Kudumbasree entered the scene. Self-help groups of five women were first formed, training given in milking cows and two cows distributed to every member of 25 such self-help groups.
“There were the initial hiccups, but now everyone has fallen on track. There are three milk societies in the panchayat who are giving every ounce of support to these women. From individuals, it has now grown to a family affair and the whole panchayat has benefited,’’ says Dr Venugopal, Veterinary Surgeon at Vilappil Veterinary Hospital.
The family of Natarajan, a Gulf-returnee, is one of the families in the area who have seen the good effects of Ksheeradhara. “I returned from Gulf and took to dairy farming. Then, my wife joined the scheme and now we have 10 cows at home and are thriving,’’ Natarajan says.
His wife Latha takes equal interest in farming, and on their land, the couple has been doing fodder cultivation too. Their house has a dung-pit in the backyard, so there is enough of manure. “Under the scheme, we received financial assistance from Vilappil Cooperative Bank. We use the milk for our purposes and sell the rest. Now our family runs on this dairy farming,’’ Latha says.
Apart from the beneficiary contribution of Rs 10,000, the bank gives a loan of Rs 1.5 lakh to each group. “It’s a three-year scheme. But there is continuous monitoring from our part. Every three months, a team consisting of officials from the Panchayat, bank and hospital visit the beneficiaries to check the progress,’’ Venugopal says.
While milk shortage had hit the State badly a few months ago, the Vilappil panchayat has not known it for a long time now. The Vilappil, Myladi and Karode milk societies together procure more than 3,500 litres of milk per day. The largest private farm in Thiruvananthapuram, Pappas dairy, which collects nearly 1,000 litres of milk per day, is also located in Vilappil.
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