Post News Network
Loisingha, Dec 14: At an age when women of her age would seek comfort in their homes, a woman in Dhaunradadar under this block in Bolangir district has brought a turnaround in her fortune by cultivating vegetables after the death of her husband and only son.
Shobha Biswal, widow of Harekrushna Biswal, has become an example for others to emulate as she managed to pay back the loan she had borrowed for the treatment of her husband and only son affected by a kidney disease. She hails from a village where kidney scare hovers over the head of every resident.
Her husband and son Balaram were no exception as they died of the ailment. While many in the village have died of the disease, many are battling with their lives without receiving proper medical treatment.
Shobha was left alone to fend for herself and her two daughters after the death of her husband and son. Instead of mourning over the deaths, Shobha started cultivating vegetables over a small patch of land. She gained success and took up cultivation of green chilies and brinjals over half an acre of land. She became a leading woman farmer in the district.
Dhaunradadar is 2 km from Rampur on Loisingha-Salebhata road adjoining National Highway -26. Hers was a happy go lucky family until her husband was affected by a kidney ailment.
She borrowed heavily and admitted her husband to various hospitals in Bolangir, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Dhenkanal and Vishakhapatnam to get him treated, but in vain. Harekrushna died in 2011. Balaram soon got affected by the disease and was taken to various hospitals, but to no avail.
She was depressed by the burden of repaying the loan and was clueless. Finally, she decided to take up cultivation on a small patch of land without government assistance. She even dug a well on the farmland to irrigate crops. After gaining success in the very first attempt she started cultivating chilies and brinjal over an additional half acre land since the last summer.
She paid back all the loans and brought back the lost smile in her family. She is now harvesting seven quintals of chilies every 10-12 days and selling them at Rs 7/kg which were earlier sold at Rs 30/kg. However, she still resides in a thatched house. Locals demanded a house under Indira Awas scheme for Shobha. PNN
