Saving for that rainy day

Pankunwar,a member of the Mahila Ekta Sangh who was among those who set up the grain bank,says,“We always save some grain in our houses if we managed to get something beyond our regular supply. But this time,during a meeting of our Sangh,we decided that we should be doing something to help the entire village.”

Pankunwar and five other women met Manoj Kumar of Kriti Shodh Sansthan,an organisation that helped the villagers create a village disaster management committee. Together,they decided that with the extra grain,they would set up a grain bank and each household would be asked to contribute as much as they could.

“Manoj bhai told us that we should ensure that a minimum of 20 kg is collected from each household. As we met in a small room,we decided to start off the grain bank immediately—ten women in our group donated 20 kg each. And with this,we started our grain bank,” says Pankunwar. Manoj’s organisation,with support from international support agency ActionAid,pitched in with two quintals of wheat.

And so,every month,women of the group donated some grain to the bank,even if they couldn’t donate 20 kg. Bharti Devi,treasurer of the grain bank,says they drew up a plan to distribute the grains in times of emergency. “Families that have 2 to 5 acres will be given grain on interest. Families who owned less than two acres will pay back the principle amount. And those who did not have any land would be given free grain,” she says.

Soon,the grain bank started giving grain on interest. Since the last one year,around 1 quintal and 60 kg of grains have already been loaned out. One of the recipients,Rampyari,took 40 kg of grain and gave back 50 kg. Similarly,Rajabai took 20 kg of grain and gave back 25 kg. Rekha,the sister of a debt-ridden villager who had committed suicide,was given 20 kg of grain for free.

ActionAid’s Utkarsh Kumar Sinha,who has been monitoring these grain banks,says,“Women always have the habit of saving for tough days. After the success of the Chandauli grain bank,other neighbouring villages too set up their own banks.”