Vegetables are grown in the land around Dabri, distributed vegetables to many villagers in difficult times.
Janjgir-Champa, 05 June 2020. The livelihood enhancement work being done under MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) has changed the lives of many families. It has opened the doors for economic growth of the people by strengthening the means of living. Even in the period of nationwide lock-down dealing with Kovid-19, MNREGA-created resources have kept the livelihood of the beneficiaries unaffected. New resources have also made them capable of helping others in adverse situations.
In the lock-down, when people are sitting in homes worrying about livelihood, the marginal farmer of Janjgir-Champa, Khaman Lal Bareth, is taking out fish from his dabri and selling it in the markets. Vegetables grown in the land around Dabri are giving them extra income. His family of 14 members is still living comfortably amidst the adverse circumstances caused by the global pandemic Kovid-19. The reason for this unforgiveness of Khaman Lal is the dabri carved in his field under MNREGA. This dabri has made it possible to cultivate vegetable after paddy harvest in rainy season, besides giving additional means of earning in the form of fisheries.
Dabri built in the farm of farmer Khaman Lal of Charoda village of Malkharoda development block of the district has changed the condition and direction of his life. Under the MGNREGA, 20 m long, 20 m wide and 10 m deep private dabri has made life easier. During the construction of this Dabri, along with Khaman Lal’s family, other villagers also got direct employment of a total of 656 human days. Khaman Lal and his wife worked together for 38 days and received a wage of Rs 6346. Khaman Lal says that before the construction of Dabri, he used to take care of the family after the paddy harvest. But since Dabri has been formed, they have also been doing fish farming along with paddy cultivation. Vegetable-vegetable and fruit trees are also planted around Dabri. For the last two years, they have been earning an additional income of about 50 thousand rupees annually by selling fish and vegetables. Khaman Lal’s son Basant Kumar, who is also the sarpanch of the village, says that MNREGA has changed his life. Dabri has made their livelihood sustainable and strong. Right now fruits and vegetables are grown in moist places around Dabri. Here we have planted banana, papaya, jackfruit, munga, guava, turmeric, chilli, garlic, taroi, tomato, gourd, makhana and barbatti. Whatever the yield of the vegetable in the lock-down, along with selling it in the market, has been given to the needy families of the village. It is convenient to help people in difficult times.
