Cooperatives and Social Innovation by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789811588808
Publisher: Springer Singapore

10.4.3 Other Socially/Financially Viable Innovations by the Bank/Foundation

Goat Rearing and Artificial Insemination of Goats

The bank, in association with Mann Deshi Foundation,3 is helping women of the area in breaking all social barriers to adopt unconventional vocations. One such vocation is artificial insemination of goat project in Satara District. The district, particularly Mann taluka, is a drought-prone area and has faced successive droughts in recent times. Farming is very difficult in this monsoon dependent area. Goat rearing was considered a viable income-generating occupation for this poverty-stricken area. Mann Deshi Bank decided to provide loans for the purchase of goat in a big way which usually cost Rs. 5,000–6,000 each. However, the area had a dearth of qualified veterinary doctors. There was usually only one doctor for four to five villages. Further, in the absence of a higher breed insemination facility, goat rearing was not really remunerative. The Mann Deshi Foundation decided to support women willing to take up the work of artificial insemination of goat. The foundation financed the training of these women with the help of Nimbkar Seeds Pvt Ltd. which imported Boer Goat embryos from Australia in order to make Boer Goat stock widely available throughout India. It also imported semen of Damascus Goats from other parts of the world and started breeding them with locals. Post-training of these women, the foundation financed insemination kit and container, while the bank financed two-wheelers to these “goat doctors”. Initially, these women faced resistance from the orthodox society as the work was considered non-feminine. In the words of Sunita Kamble, a goat doctor, “It was not easy—my family and neighbours did not support me. However, as the people saw the impact of my work, how my team and I had much higher success rates as compared to local government doctors, they began to believe in us. One day a goat was very ill with dysentery. We looked after it and it survived. People said we brought it back from the brink of death and the word of our success spread. Now I receive 25 calls a day! I visit and talk to 300 women every month. They say, the goat doctor has come and offer me a chair, and I feel so proud. And now my husband is proud of me too”. Sunita belonged to Dalit community (a community considered socially low in hierarchy of caste group) and educated only up to 9th standard. As reported by the foundation, her monthly income is in the range of only Rs. 6,000–Rs. 7,000 and the foundation was still providing her financial support of almost equal amount. But what has changed significantly is her social status and recognition. Her work has been recognized by the Government of India and she received NITI Aayog’s4 Women Transforming India Award 2017 on 29 August 2017. Clearly, such initiatives by the Mann Deshi Bank and the foundation brought about change not only in the life of an individual but in the mindset and value system of the entire society.

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