Jugni says she is “as illiterate as a buffalo”, speaking in Hindi as she lays out a plastic mat next to a farm where a few goats are tied to trees. She belongs to the Garasia tribe in the Sirohi district of Rajasthan, and is meeting with five other members of her self-help group (SHG) in July after a gap of four months. Their functioning had come to a complete halt during the lockdown, and there was a lot of work to do. “We could not go to the market to sell our produce, and used to give it to a middleman who collected it from our homes. So the bhindi [okra] we used to sell for ₹20 a kilo went for as low as ₹7 per kilo during the lockdown,” she says, over a video call on a borrowed smartphone. She owns a feature phone, and is just warming up to virtual meetings.
Jugni, one of the founding members of the Chetna Rani Mahila SHG, says she has come a long way from getting women to save ₹10 each week to be able to get electric supply to their fields two decades ago. Today, the 13 women in her group are able to save up to ₹80,000 a year and take small loans from local cooperatives for their farming and animal husbandry ventures. Their financial literacy, visible in the meticulous accounts maintained in notebooks, has been learnt entirely through experience. Digital knowledge never seemed like a priority, until now, and Jugni is willing to learn, if adapting to change is what it takes to survive in the wake of the pandemic.
Denne historien er fra August 14, 2020-utgaven av Forbes India.
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Denne historien er fra August 14, 2020-utgaven av Forbes India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Home-Cooked Meal Is Now Greatly Valued
The pandemic has also brought with it an improved focus on hygiene, use of technology in dining, rise of cloud kitchens and resurgence in popularity of Indian ingredients
Paytm 3.0 - Reaching Near Breakeven In Two Years
As of 2020, Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s super app for financial services had run up losses in thousands of crores. Now, as digital payments gets yet another boost courtesy Covid-19, he’s hopeful of reaching near breakeven in two years
THE PANDEMIC HAS CAUSED WOMEN GREATER LABOUR PAIN
Covid-19 has shown that women are more likely to face the brunt of job losses than men, and find fewer opportunities when they want to resume. That apart, several have to deal with increased hours of unpaid work at home and even domestic abuse
LEADERSHIP WILL BE ABOUT SEEING THE BIGGER PICTURE
Leaders must not only guard their teams first during a crisis, but also deal with stakeholders with respect and dignity. And apart from pursuing business goals, they should remain committed to our planet and the environment
PHILANTHROPY SHOULD BE HUMBLE, BUT NOT MODEST
Apart from building a flexible and resilient framework for the future, philanthropists, civil society and the government must work in tandem so that every rupee is absorbed on the ground
INTEGRATED HEALTH CARE, TECH WILL DISRUPT SECTOR
While clinical research will get a boost, having a skilled workforce and public spending on health care will be challenges in the near term
DIGITALISATION WILL HELP IN VALUE CREATION
As the pandemic brings technology and innovation to the core of business and daily life, the next decade will see about 150 million digital-first families in India
Industry 4.0: Climate Revolution?
Augmenting sustainability alongside digital capabilities is an economic, competitive and global opportunity for India’s businesses, but regulations need to reflect intent
EV Dream Still Miles Away
Electric vehicles have remained a buzzword in India for years. But not much has moved on ground due to high upfront costs, range anxiety and charging infrastructure
Living Waters
A virus has caused us to scramble for oxygen but our chokehold on the environment is slowly strangling the very waters that breathe life into us. The virus is a timely reminder: We are merely consumers, not producers of life’s breath on this planet