From Struggle to Strength: Tara Rajpoot’s Journey with Radio Bundelkhand
Tara Rajpoot, a 35-year-old resides in the village of Binwara, Niwari Block of Madhya Pradesh, with her family of seven. Like many women in the rural landscape, her daily life revolves around managing the fields and handling household chores. However, with agriculture as the main source of income, her hard work wasn’t yielding the result she wished for. With continuous economic instability, she struggled to meet daily household expenses, let alone pay for her children's education. They would occasionally sell milk from their livestock to a dairy, but that didn’t weigh down the challenges of her life either.
The constant struggle for survival also began to affect her health, making Tara feel overwhelmed and hoping for some kind of relief from the endless cycle of labour and worry.
One day, while out on an errand in her neighbourhood, Tara overheard a discussion about farming on Radio Bundelkhand. Featuring RJ Manish Samadhiya and an agricultural expert from the Department of Agriculture, the programme focused on agroforestry. Intrigued, Tara noted down the contact number mentioned during the broadcast and decided to reach out to them to explain her situation and plight despite farming for years. She spoke to RJ Manish and told him how climate related challenges like excessive rain and hailstorm destroyed their crops. Tara was desperate for a solution as the family was considering migrating from the village in hopes to find better livelihood.
领英推荐
After listening to her concerns and visiting her village personally, Radio Bundelkhand professional RJ Manish directed Tara towards various Radio programmes. He shared information on how the station’s coverage of a wide range of farming and environmental topics help her overcome her agricultural challenges. Radio Bundelkhand also helped Tara connect with agroforestry expert Raju Ahirwar, who explained Tara the concept of climate change and the importance of adapting suitable farming techniques. Encouraged by his advice, Tara and her husband decided to take up the new approach and brought back fruit-bearing trees and vegetable seeds from Niwari for their farm.
This became a turning point for Tara and her family and her fortunes began to change. Tara and her husband planted these in her fields and soon enough, the new farming methods significantly yielded profits. Today, Tara earns approximately ?200,000 per month and leads a life of newfound financial stability. Tara expressed her eternal gratitude to Radio Bundelkhand for providing the knowledge, guiding her towards a sustainable solution and supporting in transforming her life.
Tara’s story is not just a tale of financial success but one of resilience, empowerment and determination, proving that women, too, take the lead to break free from the hardships of rural life and achieve financial independence.