Women rear fish to weave a success story

Women members of Elajaner Kuthi Disha self-help group catching fish at Sat Mile
in Cooch Behar.Picture by Main Uddin Chisti

TT, Cooch Behar, Sept. 24: Men can fight among themselves like fish do. Then the women are called in. Especially if it is to farm fish.

Matsyanyay, according to classical Indian political theory, is that period of chaos in a kingdom when in the absence of a ruler, the big fish eats the small fish, speaking metaphorically. The fisheries department has a similar thing to say about the fish farming co-operatives that were run by men in Cooch Behar district.

The 63 co-operatives, though functional for decades, were not of much help in a district that sorely needs a supply of fresh fish mainly because they squabbled with each other. Tired with no results, the fisheries department has now appointed women to increase fish availability in the district.

The department has started a pilot project to cultivate fish with 228 women from 19 self-help groups in the district, says Aloknath Prahraj, deputy director of fisheries, Cooch Behar. Women are more organised, he added.

So in Elajaner Kuthi village in Saatmile area, about 12km from Cooch Behar town, 11 women of Elajaner Kuthi Disha self-help group, calling themselves Durga Vahini, took a pond on lease and started work in July. After getting the fish seeds of koi, bata andmrigel, they begin work at the crack of dawn scattering the feed for the fish, made of decomposed mustard skins, in the water. Throughout the day, they work more hours moving the fish from one side of the pond, which is needed for the growth of the fish.

They are hopeful that before the Puja they can sell their first catch, of bata and koi, small fish which should mature by then. They plan to rear tilapia also.

The fisheries department is hopeful that the rest of the groups will follow in Durga Vahini's footsteps. Each of the 19 self-help groups will be trained by the department in four phases. In the first stage, 11 groups have already been trained for five says.

Cooch Behar has always faced a shortage of fresh fish.

"The district gets 2 to 2.5 metric tonnes of fish every day from other states. Cooch Behar produces 22,000 metric tonnes of fish every year. It has an annual deficit of 7,000 metric tonnes," says Prahraj.

Durga Vahini was given training at the NGO Saatmile Satish Club. Saatmile is in the gram panchayat area of Moamari. While the fisheries department imparts the training, the rural development department has extended loan. The 11 members of Elajaner Kuthi Disha self-help group have taken a bank loan of Rs 45,000.

The women feel their lives have changed already. Shampa Barman, a member of the self-help group, said: "This is a new beginning. There are many ponds in our area. We have started pisciculture in one of them."

Another Durga Vahini member said: "Each of us will earn Rs 10,000 a month by selling fish."