It started off on a note of compassion, when a women’s self-help group in Madhya Pradesh’s Tikamgarh district began caring for stray cattle abandoned by poor farmers who no longer had the means to feed them. The Sankalp Swastik Mahila Mandal initially planned to milk the eight cows they housed in a gaushala (cow shelter) and use the income for their upkeep. Soon, however, thanks to the intervention of the Delhi-based social enterprise Development Alternative, the Shri Raja Ram Gaushala transformed into a hub of grassroots revolution, where environment-friendly concepts have been prototyped and used to empower local villages.

“When people realised the success of the concept, they started donating their extra cattle and today we are the proud owners of 102 cows,” says Meera Devi, one of the village women who has been working at the gaushala since its inception in 2004.

Development Alternative trained the SHG members to turn a simple gaushala into a means of income and self-reliance.

As the number of cows increased, the women were trained in vermicomposting — the breakdown of organic matter by earthworms to produce nutrient-rich bio-fertiliser.

“We sell vermicompost in the local market and directly to farmers, and this is generating good revenue,” says Dhanku. Her husband had initially barred her from working at the gaushala ; today, her work funds her children’s schooling and her daughter-in-law Kamla Devi has joined in too. “Initially, people didn’t endorse our concept and thought we were wasting our time; many women were even stopped by their husbands from visiting the place. But today they are proud of us,” adds Meera Devi.

“The concept looked awesome to us and we provided them the technical support to scale it up,” says Omkar Gupta, Deputy Manager of Development Alternative.

Development Alternative next set up a biogas plant at the gaushala , utilising the large quantities of cow dung to generate bio-power and biogas to run several useful machines on the premises. “The generation of bio-power was like a dream as it runs our spice grinding machine 24/7 and generates more revenue for us,” says Kamla, who operates the machine for SHG members and rents it out to other farmers as well.

Impressed by the effort, the Madhya Pradesh government had in 2008 chipped in by donating 20 acres to the SHG. “The then chief minister Uma Bharti was so excited with the project that she immediately donated 20 acres of state land lease-free,” says Gupta.

These self-reliant women are now in the spotlight in all of Bundelkhand. “People from other villages visit our gaushala and replicate our methods back home; it is really good to see people praising the work,” says Meera.

India is routinely rapped by global forums for the ozone-depleting methane generated by its millions of cattle. Despite knowing that cow dung is the best source of bio-energy, India has failed to capitalise on it. A gaushala born of goodwill now promises to catalyse a climate-friendly bio-energy revolution.

“This is a complete miracle at the grassroots level, where the women’s self-help group is not only inspiring other villages in the country but also moving towards financial independence,” says Dr SN Panday, Programme Director at Taragram, a satellite campus of Development Alternatives.

( Tawqeer Hussainis a Delhi-based journalist )

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