In this case it was denial that was the mother of invention. Shayamal Chaudhary, 65, from Jharkhand proved that he could do it single-handedly by digging a pond in his village for 14 years…and succeeding.
A simple farmer from Kurua village, Sukhjora Panchayat, Shyamal repeatedly requested the Block Development Officer to have a pond dug that would fulfil the irrigation requirements of the fields. After filing several applications and visiting the officer many a times, the determined farmer lost neither courage nor his farming skills. Instead, he took this denial as a challenge and started digging a pond on his own land. After 14 years of continuous hard work, he not only created a pond but also gifted it to the community that was going through hard times in the absence of irrigation related facilities.
When Shyamal, a Class Eight drop out, started out, many people taunted him. He simply ignored them and remained focussed on his objective. “I never asked for help,” he says, recalling that he started digging the pond in 1997 and completed it in 2011. The pond, 100 x 100 metres long and 22 feet deep, now benefits numerous villages in the vicinity, including Kuruvaa, Petsar, Margadi, Beltikari, Vishnupur and Baiganthara.
Today, on his nine bigha of land, Chaudhary produces a variety of vegetables and fruits like potatoes, onions, bananas and mangoes. He has even started fish farming in the pond. The increased income is enough for the survival of his four daughters and a son. Quite happy with outcome of his efforts, Chaudhary feels that his life is blessed as the farmers now have a year-long solution to their irrigation woes.
However, Chaudhary has been trying again. This time he has requested the government department to help with a retaining wall and a pump set and pipes for irrigation. His demand once again has fallen on deaf ears, even though the officials are aware of his achievement. Undeterred, he has tried to access the Agriculture Minister, though that too has not produced any positive outcome so far.
When, on the one hand, India's farmers are committing suicides, a few like Chaudhary are willing to find solutions. Despite no encouragement from the government, Chaudhary is nevertheless moving ahead. He is delighted to see farmers around him respond to his effort. This is his real award.
(Charkha Features)
