Defying her disability at leg caused by polio since childhood and now a growing age, Sangeeta Deol of Jalandhars Dhannal Kalan Village has set an example for others in society. She has found her niche through beekeeping.
By Paramjit Singh
Dhanaal Kalan village, Jalandhar, May 18 : Defying her disability at leg caused by polio since childhood and now a growing age, Sangeeta Deol of Jalandhar's Dhannal Kalan Village has set an example for others in society. She has found her niche through beekeeping.
Sixty-year-old Sangeeta Deol has proved to be the ablest beekeeper, tasting sweet success with many awards to her credit.
Having commenced her beekeeping business with just one box in 1984, Sangeeta arose to receive the coveted award of Farmer of India. She is the first woman to have earned such an award.
"I started beekeeping in 1984 after receiving training from Punjab University. I had around 90 boxes for bee keeping when I commenced this business. The honey that I collected from the bee boxes didn't sell for three years. Earlier, I had given up one poultry farm and all seemed to be empty," said Sangeeta Deol.
She says shortage of money and children's needs like college fees motivated her to take to beekeeping.
"I ventured into beekeeping and selling honey, going from street to street, knocking at every other door. Five bottles of honey were sold for 100 rupees and then the money started coming," said Deol.
"It encouraged me to expand. When the business started running well, I was felicitated
with an award of Leading Bee-Farmer of District in 1988. I have endeavoured for all the development work in bee-keeping in Punjab and shared the secret with others. For this, the Punjab Agriculture honoured me with an award for Development in Beekeeping in Punjab and many other organisations have also honoured me," she informed.
Today, contentment in life has been her forte.
There was a time after Sangeeta's marriage when her house was on mortgage. It pushed her to ensure its release from the debtors' clutches. She had to sell off all her jewellery to redeem the house.
During her school and college days, she suffered mockery of many students due her being polio-affected student. Many would not talk to her or avoid her.
But she proved it's the self-belief that proves who is worth association.
Sangeeta opines women should not hesitate to take up any vocation like food processing, marketing seeds, etc. since hard work pays. She, as a woman farmer, takes pride in herself. But she regrets those in the village who show resentment if women work.
She says, they don't understand if the village women also start working, the farmers will be able to earn more money and their financial condition will improve.
Sangeeta wants various government agencies should come forward and lend a helping hand in marketing of products since the rural folk have their own drawbacks like networking of distributors and assessing feedback.
Besides, Sangeeta has been felicitated with many other commendations such as Punjab's leading Bee Farmer, Gold Medal for Agriculture Diversification, Special Award from Punjab Agriculture University and a special award from Kisan Club for record production in honey.
ANI