Recasting Citizenship for Development - File UPI

156 CHHAYA DATAR
We do not trust the government. Its payment never comes in time. Our
loan from the SHG would not last long.
No farmer pays us on time. We have to beg for a month or two. Hence,
I am agreeable if the government promises to pay us after every two
months.
We as farmers are willing to accept the drought situation and if crops fail
we do not blame anybody. We take the loss. In this scheme, we have to
make payment for rent, for water and also work without wages. If this
horticulture fails we cannot take the loss. Here we are required to invest
money first. We are not willing to take the risk. We feel that it is government
work and hence the risk should be borne by the government, not us.
The agreement should be in the name of the women’s group. If anybody
wants to take the scheme individually, then her name should be there on
the land title. We would insist that the husband should divide his land
and give a plot to his wife.
It is a difficult and expensive proposition. Lot of bribe is required and
then only the title is changed.
There are many privately owned fallow lands, which can be used for this
purpose. But our husbands are opposed to this idea. They do not mind
keeping it fallow but would not like it to be used for this kind of
experimentation.
Sometimes we feel that it is better to give individual loans through SHG
and earn interest, which can be distributed among the members. We do
not want to invest money and also work hard so that we get more profit.
This is risky.
On Collective Work versus Individual Work
In all villages, women expressed doubts about whether they could work
together and develop a feeling of collective ownership towards this
enterprise.
In Upsinghe village, we had done an experiment of cultivating small plots
of land collectively. But it failed. Women do not stay together.
We are a highly individualistic lot. If one woman comes late one day,
another would cite that as an example and would come late tomorrow.