The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Madurai News : A reverberating move, making women proud

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 31, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Madurai

A reverberating move, making women proud

S.S. Kavitha

Even at 62, she is driving a tractor with much ease

PATHBREAKING: Brave new women.

MADURAI : It is certainly a break into `non-traditional' careers that are usually meant for men. When women man these new areas, people around look at in awe, said Karupayee of Sadayandi self-help group of Chokklaingapuram.

Even at 62, Karuppaye is driving a tractor with much ease and a resonance in her voice and a hearty laugh. She was a participant in a training programme jointly organised by Rural Centre of Excellence of Mahindra World and Mahalir Thittam.

The Mahindra World launched the Rural Centre one year back to study and understand the rural market. It was found in Madurai district that tractor-owning farmers were less in number but tractor-using farmers were more. Almost 75 per cent of the farmers had been using tractors by hiring them from Tiruchi, Coimbatore, Kerela and Andhra Pradesh to work on a seasonal and rental basis, said B. Viswanathan, head of the centre.

At the outset, Mahindra gives the driving power to women for one hour on roads. If the trainees want to continue training, the resident driver at the Mahindra World at Vadipatti would further train them on a paddy field, Mr. Viswanathan added.

Though one could master tractor driving within three to four hours, Mahindra had decided to train women until they gained confidence to drive on their own.

Training is now given in low horsepower tractors (23 hp) and if the trainees want to learn to drive bigger vehicles (up to 65 hp), "we are ready with nine varieties of tractors," he said.

The training scheme, launched on December 22, would be a continuous programme. On completion of the training, the women would be given loans through banks or through Mahindra to own a tractor through which they could earn a living, said S.M. Prabhakaran, Joint Director and Project Officer, Mahalir Thittam.

So far around 25 women have been trained and provided with certificates.

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