12 km away from main highway on muddy tracks
It was the morning of 15th April and we decided to visit Kaisi Bai, one of the beneficiary of Goatery Project. About 11 km on the main highway towards Debari, Udaipur, from the busy city and then turning right into the villages..muddy roads, dry trees, stray dogs, agriculture land that has been used and generally used only once in a year, that also during rains..
We were discussing about how deep the tribal population is situated and how much time will it take to reach them.. The dusty roads never allowed us to drive at normal speed, we were just moving at a slow speed.
Moving about 12 km in the deep rural areas, we were informed that Gudwa, under village Karget is about to come and we would need to park our vehicle and walk up to the house of Kaisi Bai. Our CSR in-charge (Debari) advised us to park the vehicle and we could walk now.. Kaisi Bai’s house was visible now..
Kaisi was sitting with her goats and giving them water. She was surprised by our visit, may be she was not expecting. Her husband, son and his wife were also present. His son’s wife has 2 daughters, both of them go to “Khushi” centre nearby in Gudwa itself.
Kaisi Bai arranged for our sitting and asked her daughter-in-law to spread a bed-sheet on the floor. We were comfortable.
A muddy house which has a gate charted out of dry bushes. There is a water storage place and a small covered place, again prepared from the dry bushes, for the goats. The house has electricity.
Kaisi Bai informed us that she is part of self-help-group organized by Vedanta-Hindustan Zinc. From there she came to know about the Goatery Project of the company. She informed that under the Project Goatery, Hindustan Zinc has provided her a unit of 6 Sirohi Breed goats, which include one male and 5 females. As per the project, she was required to pay about Rs. 15,000/- which is 50% of the cost of buying 6 Sirohi Breed goats and the rest 50% was born by Hindustan Zinc. The total cost of the project is Rs. 29,000/- for 6 Sirohi Goats.
The Sirohi Breed goats are special for their fast growth and cases have been seen where more than 70% goats have delivered twins. Each goat gives about a litre of milk which is used for children or selling. These goats have bright spots on their skin and this is how they are identified as of Sirohi Breed.
The Goatery Project has become backbone of giving a dignified life for Kaisi Bai. Her economic condition has become stable now. We could see a television in her house. The people were neatly dressed and her house was hygienic. Kaisi Bai also informed that her family has been able to earn about Rs. 30,000/- in just about 2 years by selling goats.
The Project is being executed in consultation with Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (RUVAS)- for technical support, and Hanuman Van Vikas Samiti (HVVS) for their expertise in selection of goats.
Hindustan Zinc has benefited 30 tribal families and shall be covering about 15 families more under their Goatery Project in Debari.
The success of Project Goatery have given a stability to the economic condition of the tribals like Kaisi Bai who have extremely limited means for their livelihood.
