Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh), June 2 (IANS) She is not literate and was once confined to kneading dough, preparing cow dung cakes and doing other household chores. But now Savitri Devi has become a hand pump mechanic, a profession deemed to be a male domain, and solves water problems of the community.
For a drought-prone district that is part of the underdeveloped Bundelkhand region, Devi’s labour rises as summer approaches.
‘I am completely satisfied with my work. On one hand I get an opportunity to serve people by solving their water problems; on the other hand I am also able to generate income for my family,’ Devi, 40, told IANS.
‘Earlier I felt awkward while carrying out repairing work. You know for a rural area, even today it’s not easy for a woman to go outside for work and do a job that is presumed to be the monopoly of the man,’ said Devi, a resident of Madiyan village.
Devi has been repairing hand pumps for three years. For attaining self-reliance through hand pump reparing, she gives credit to an NGO – Vanangana – that trained her in hand pump repairing.
‘I always wanted to attain self-reliance. When I came to know from locals that an NGO has planned to initiate a training programme on hand pump repairing, I thought enrolling in such a programme will solve two purposes – diversifying family income and solving hand pump problems that become common in summers,’ said Devi, who has two children.
‘When I expressed my desire to my husband (a labourer), he was shocked. He was dead against my decision. I remember he did not even talk to me for several days. But as I had made a firm determination, I got myself enrolled in the programme. Honestly speaking, at that time I was not sure whether villagers would prefer a woman mechanic to the male counterparts,’ she added.
Devi receives calls for repairing hand pumps either directly from a village head or civic agencies, like Jal Nigam.
‘While I try my best to fix the problem on the spot, sometimes I have to lift the entire hand pump and bring it home for repairing,” she said.
‘In a number of cases, I have to trek several kilometres to reach the repairing site,’ she added.
Devi earns around Rs.3,000-4,000 on a monthly basis.
‘The maximum earning takes place during summers. My labour charges for repairing private hand pumps are higher than those of public hand pumps,’ she said.
Awadesh Kumari, a member of Vanangana, told IANS, ‘Taking into account the water crisis in the area, by becoming a hand pump mechanic a woman can serve society and also generate a regular income for her family.’
‘Like Devi, several women from other villages are also approaching us to get themselves enrolled in the training programme,’ she added.
(Asit Srivastava can be contacted at asit.s@ians.in)
