By the Barn

Praful Parakh and his team at BJS,an NGO for social and educational rehabilitation in Maharashtra,came upon the idea of opening chhawnis in February in the course of a meeting to evaluate the ill effects that farmers are suffering due to the drought. Parakh shares that one of their key findings was that the farmers,who are hardly able to feed their own families as they battle one of the worst droughts in decades,are being overburdened with the responsibility of their farm animals and cattle.

“So,under the supervision of Shantilal Muttha,founder and president of BJS,we have opened more than 30 chhawnis across Beed,Jalna,Ahmednagar,Latur,Osmanabad,Solapur and Pune districts,” says Parakh. As of today,these chhawnis are providing shelter to over 10,000 farm and milch animals.

Sharing that one of the basic premises for their drought relief programme was to provide free services at chhawnis,Parakh says,“But just because it is free,does not mean that they will suffer. The animals not only get proper fodder,but also complete nutrition.”

Making sure there are no loose ends,BJS had also organised a training camp for their volunteers earlier this month to learn proper management of chhawnis. Volunteers were trained how to feed and take proper care of animals. “We also have arranged for veterinarian doctors to de-worm and vaccinate the animals,” says Parakh.

He adds that earlier this month,BJS had also sourced more than 700 metric tonne of fodder from Madhya Pradesh. “Looking at the drought situation,farmers in Maharashtra might soon run out of fodder for the animals. We have stocked up to supply fodder to government-run chhawnis if the need arises,” assures Parakh.

Stepping in to relieve the farmers of stress,the BJS chhawnis will keep the animals till a month after the rain starts. “It will give them time to grow their own fodder by then. But,till that time these animals are our responsibility,” he says.

Established in 1985,BJS has been addressing concerns in the areas of educational initiatives,social development and disaster response through its network of country-wide volunteers. BJS has worked actively with both state and central governments,NGOs across the country as well as communities in the implementation of many of its projects.