Watch: How a Group of Women Liberated an Entire Village From Debt

When the pressure of debt forced the men of the village to migrate, women took matters into their own hands.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

In Varanasi district, there is a village by the name Gora. Not very long ago, the men of this village were forced to migrate in search of jobs. They were farm labourers and had taken loans from local moneylenders. When they were unable to pay their debt, the moneylenders took their land away from them.

The entire village was undergoing an economic crisis, and at this point, the women decided to take matters into their own hands. They formed several small groups and started ‘group farming’.

What is Group Farming?

The women formed a small group of around 15 members, and each of them donated Rs 20. They used the money to rent out the land.

We started the group with collections of Rs 20 each. At the time, even Rs 20 was too much for us. We rented the farms from Brahmins, to whom we owed the money. We started cultivating vegetables and flowers. Soon, we began repaying our debts.

Chanda Mourya, group leader

In a few years, Lady Luck was smiling upon them. Eventually, they were able to pay off the entire debt.

Now, Gora village has four such groups, and following in their footsteps, 35 more groups were formed in the neighbouring villages. These groups have an early turnover of Rs 7 crore.

Group Farmers Have Their Own Banking System

Once the debts were paid off, the women started their own personal banking system. They provide short-term loans to their members on marginal interest rates.

If someone needs, say Rs 10,000, then they are provided the amount with Rs 100 as the form fee. The rate of interest is 2 percent. The interest is distributed among all the members.

Chanda Mourya

Once the debts were paid off, the farmers, who were once forced to migrate, were able to return back home. They also invest their own money in these groups.

Gora is now free from the debt trap. Will the farmers elsewhere follow suit?

Video Editor: Vivek Gupta and Mohd Irshad Alam

(This article was originally published on Quint Hindi)