Santkumar living in Dudhaniyakhurd became self-sufficient due to irrigation facility in his fields

For Mr. Santkumar, a resident of village Dudhaniya, a dependent village panchayat of Ratga, about 12 km from the district headquarter Baikunthpur, the proverb where there is a will, there is a way to be fully realized. Shri Santkumar, who previously sweated hard work in the fields of others, is now on the path of becoming self-sufficient by getting irrigation facilities in his fields with the help of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA. Shri Santkumar, despite being the owner of about five acres of land, did not have any drinking water and means of irrigation of his own. Apart from drinking water, this family used to depend on the hand pump located far away for daily disposal, while in summer this problem got worse. Apart from this, due to lack of means of irrigation, it was difficult for them to take any other crop other than rain based farming. Apart from the traditional cultivation of paddy, they depended on unskilled employment of MGNREGA or had to go outside the village to do daily wages. But after the formation of a well under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, his family is now producing a lot of greens and vegetables in their own fields. Due to this, they have started getting enough food grains and vegetables for their daily use and at the same time they have started selling them in the market to meet their other needs easily.
Giving information in this regard, Mr. Santkumar says that during the pandemic, when all the places and markets were closed, he provided green vegetables to the people of the village from the greens planted in his fields, which also earned him good income. Santkumar told that his well work was completed in summer last year, due to which he also got employment. After the well was built, his family worked hard in their fields and sowed the paddy crop on time. This gave him good profit, this time a bumper production of 40 quintals of paddy was obtained in his fields. Apart from this, he planted crops like potatoes, peas, tomatoes by sowing vegetables in the fields near the well and earning Rs 15,000 by selling them in the market. After the paddy harvest, Santkumar planted wheat crop in the fields and also took production of 10 quintals of wheat. After the Rabi crop, taking full advantage of the irrigation facility in his fields, he produced a dozen different types of vegetables, which earned him an income of about 10 to 12 thousand rupees per month. From the well built under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, now this family is on the path of economic progress by cultivating different types of crops in their fields throughout the year. The technical officer of the work, Mr. Horilal informed that in the financial year 2018-19, the application for construction of wells in the fields of Mr. Santkumar was received by the gram panchayat. After approval of Janpad Panchayat, approval of one lakh eighty thousand rupees was given from Zilla Panchayat. In the year 2020, his well was completed, in which his family also got the benefit of wages for doing unskilled labor. After becoming a well, this family is now free from worrying about their livelihood and living a better life.