Chakia would have fallen off the map. Instead in 2005, Sukha, a 60-year-old resident of this unspectacular village that lies in Chandauli block, some 50 kilometres from district headquarters Varanasi (population 47.87 lakh, gender ratio 908: 1000, literacy 52.4%), leapfrogged to the list of 1,000 women for the Nobel Peace Prize, an honour roll that included names like Medha Patekar.
From non-entity to Nobel, the journey of the unlettered Sukha, who has a "Doctor" prefixed to her name, is also the story of Chakia's women who have successfully battled ignorance, prejudice and ill-health.
Two decades ago, representatives of the Mahila Samakya (MS) programme, a Government of India initiative active in nine states, designed to empower women through education, descended upon this patriarchal village to be greeted by scepticism and worse.
After those barriers fell and women discovered the liberation of stepping out of homes to tackle problems without male chaperones, opinion veered around the need to find a solution to their myriad health problems. The government hospital wasn't too far off but the women found it difficult to open up to strangers. Moreover with most of the village residents being poor farm labourers, spending on the health of women was a low priority. The solution that they came up with, that is to capitalise on their knowledge of traditional medicines, was thus both obvious and practical.
In 1999, a small batch of women were dispatched for a 15-day training camp to Ranchi. The women lived on the fringes of a jungle into which they trooped every day with an old vaid to scour for herbs, shrubs, barks and roots of medicinal value. More training sessions in traditional medicines plus the basics of medical examination and mid-wifery followed and in 2000, five women pitched in with Rs 500 each to set up the ‘Nari Sanjeevani Kendra’ (NSK) in the MS office. This tiny laboratory, where the women cut, dry, pound and grind their healthy concoctions, is today the unlikely centre of forceful change that has swept through 100 villages of the block.
Documentation
There is a quiet order in the NSK work. Patient details are meticulously noted and there is also a rudimentary attempt at documenting the benefits of the common herbs and shrubs used. At every step, the social changes brought about by the NSK work are apparent. For instance, earlier Rs 11 for a girl and Rs 51 for a boy was given to the midwife at delivery. Now Rs 51 is the standard. Two days in a month are given over to medicine-making while these Sanjeevani didis (among whom Sukha is the eldest and most respected) also cover the villages through visits and health camps. What isn't much in order though is the economics. Between them, the women have a little more than Rs 15,000 in the NSK account. Another Rs 500 lies with each one of these women didis who get paid according to the type and quantity of the herb they have sourced.
Value addition is also a recent concept with the medicines now being packaged automatically and the stickers being computer printed.
Saroj Singh, MS representative in-charge of the district, concedes that the work has been hampered by lack of publicity. "The women are extremely poor, yet are willing to forgo their day's wages to come to the NSK. We need to look at an option where this becomes commercially viable or else their dedication will not count for much", she says.
The tri-monthly review meetings have also identified the uselessness of making long trips to the jungles. Among the solutions being discussed are taking up village land on a rent to grow the herbs and encouraging farm owners to mark off a certain portion of their farms for these herbs. The latter, by changing the status of the women from labourers to buyers will also significantly alter their relationship with farm owners.
At Sitpaur, another one of the 12 districts in the state where MS is operational, the women are still struggling to identify an economically productive activity. More than 200 sanghas are operational in the district which lies some 90 kilometres from Lucknow. Among these are 19 savings group with a capital of Rs 89,000, most of which goes into intra and inter loaning. The two income-generating options identified were sweet box making and chikan embroidery. The first is hampered by lack of orders and storage problems while the second is time consuming. Two years ago, six girls  were trained by the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in chikan work. Today the craft only fetches them some pocket money.
Lack of focus
At Vishwanathpur village in the Mishrik block where a sangha meeting is underway, it is this lack of focus that is bothering the women. MS Resource person Anupam Lata says the women are poised for take off. "We worked for social change, to break barriers. For instance, one of our longest struggles was to put an end to the ritual of beating dolls during the month of Saawan. Today religious leaders take the lead in putting up swings for these dolls. That one change has lead to a huge difference in how girls are looked upon. Our women are articulate and confident. They just need some guidance".
Rashmi Sinha, Director Mahila Samakhya, puts the change in a broader perspective. "There has been no vision on marketing the products till now. It has been production, just for its own sake." It is this vital last mile that she hopes to cover. In about a month, Dilli Haat will have a MS stall, where Sinha wants to bring together products under the MS brand not only from UP but from other states as well.
Training
She is also looking for design students from NIFT and NID who could be offered internships to train these women. "Our women have the skills, but need direction and polishing. For a unique opportunity to work with a local culture and appreciate its ethnographic nuances, we will ask design students to train our women. The concept of colour, what constitutes design, crafting, finishing is of vital importance if we are to make our products popular. We hope to make the MS brand a synonym of quality", she says.
Vital to this task is the identification of markets. And as a beginning, Sinha has proposed that the paper units at Aurraiya begin supplying to government departments. Since capacity is a problem, sick existing units can be taken over on a profit sharing/rent basis.
Similarly the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, residential schools for adolescent girls, can be supplied grains and spices by sangha mills.
"Income generation was never a MS issue. We were catering to more basic needs. But now our women are at a stage where they need to find ways to meet more evolved needs, and economic independence stands high on that list", Sinha believes.
Given that 634 savings groups function under the MS umbrella with a the total savings of over Rs 10.56 lakh and that the skill sets of the women range from durrie making to catering, there is no saying what an economic force would be unleashed if some of these plans go through.