Nagpur: After a career of almost 25 years in the corporate world, Tanveer Mirza decided to call it quits in 2011 and dedicate his life to working for empowering rural communities by providing skill sets. Since his previous job dealt with agricultural equipment, he spent majority of his time in rural areas and understood the problems faced by farmers. He speaks to TOI about how life has changed after the Nagpur Heroes award for his NGO Yashodhara...Q. What prompted you to work full-time with farmers, even though you had spent a quarter century in the corporate world?A. There were multiple events which led to that inflection point, but the first one I remember clearly. Once I was in a village in eastern Vidarbha and saw two people from Japan had come there to buy cotton. I asked them why would they come to such rural areas whereas cotton can be procured from bigger towns as well. They said they wanted cotton which was completely organic and free from all chemicals and wanted to source it directly from farmers. I realized that there is so much scope for our farmers in the international market but they are not aware of it. I also saw migration of youths to cities because of lack of jobs in rural areas. It became my aim to start stop this migration by empowering villagers through skill development and entrepreneurial ventures.Q. So how exactly are you implementing that?A. First our focus was on farming, which is usually the primary occupation at village level. The biggest challenge was water availability because of climatic changes and depleting groundwater levels. We helped create solutions for conserving rainwater that would usually just drain away. The drainage was also taking away the top fertile soil. We started building bundhs and taught them how to prevent soil erosion. Farmers were made aware of the government schemes they can utilize for digging wells or getting access to pumps.Q. What else is NGO Yashodhara doing now?A. Our aim is to stop migration from villages to cities. For that, we need to have employment opportunities available for all. Jobs are extremely hard to come by in villages hence it is important to develop entrepreneurial spirit in them by providing them the skills. So we are teaching them animal husbandry and now they are rearing chicken and goats. Some have started aquaculture and are moving up the value chain. There are many self help groups (SHG) that we are working with by providing a market for their products. There is a demand for organic products and people pay a premium for that. We want our farmers to get the entire benefit of their produce.Q. How has being a Nagpur Hero changed life for you?A. I am still to get over the fact that I have been chosen as a Nagpur Hero. When I entered the hall and heard about what other candidates are doing, I thought I don’t even deserve to be here. But in the end it was very gratifying to know that the work my team is doing is being appreciated and noticed. And when a brand like TOI recognizes you, it makes a huge difference. It has given us a lot of motivation and we now have to live up to that expectation.Q. Any lessons from your journey so far for those who wish to follow?A. One thing I will strongly suggest is that beneficiaries of all social schemes must be made stakeholders. Nothing should be given for free because nobody values it. Very early in our journey we gave motor pumps for drawing water for free and when mechanical problems came up, farmers said ‘sir your pump is not working’. That word, ‘your pump’ made me change our stance and we decided that we need to make them a stakeholder by getting them to invest a small amount or in kind.

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