‘I wish my organisation shuts down in a few years’

“I started with my project of forming SHGs in my native village Bahadarpur. It is a three-phase project which will go on for 21 years. The first phase of the project,which started in 2000,is complete. With the progress in the work,we have expanded our reach from Bahadarpur to places like Dhule,Nandurbar,Nashik,Jalna and even Pune,” said Mishra.

Belonging to a family which had always been closely associated with social work,Mishra said it was the encouragement from her parents that led her on. “Even if my grandfather was a sarpanch of the village,we did face our share of problems. It was this will to help them come out of this suffering that made me dream and run behind fulfilling it,” added Mishra.

Mishra is the founder of Bhagini Nivedita Gramin Vigyan Niketan which makes village women self sufficient by training them to produce quilts and export-quality food. “Later,even the farmers got attracted towards the work. Finally,we started providing loans to farmers in the hope of making them self-sufficient as well. Following that,we extended our help to tribals as well.”

Currently,the project is in its second phase. By the time,it reaches the final stage,Mishra wants to take it outside Maharashtra. “The focus for us should be to form villages that are run by people and have capable systems so that they do not have to depend on the government in any way,” said Mishra.