The change began a few years ago when one of them, Virsingh Kashaba Yadav, was bold enough to sell off his sheep and approach a nationalised bank to seek a loan to buy a tractor. It was a bold move. Soon, others followed.

Today in Mirde, there are close to 400 tractors as against about 10-15 tractors in any Maharashtra village. The shepherds still migrate for seven-eight months a year; not on foot, but on these tractors. Only the men travel now; the women stay back and ensure the children go to school. The men cover long distances on their tractors, looking for farmers who need a tractor to level or plough their fields but can’t afford one.

“Over the last five years, I have managed to buy three tractors from the money I made from lending my tractors. The first time, I raised the money by selling my sheep. There were over 5,000 sheep in our wasti before all this began; now there are only about 1,000 left. For the first time, our children have begun to go to school,” says Bhimsen Kachre, a man in his early 30s. He has joined hands with others in the village to build their own primary school.

But he’s reluctant to spell out the kind of money he makes. “The government has never helped us. We had to do it all on our own. We never got any grants unlike other tribes. Now we don’t need trouble just because we make a decent living,” he says.

... contd.