Mechanic-turned-farmer makes most of job scheme

This farmer from Kairangala was never out of work and made the most of his time when most of us were caught with joblessness, boredom after struck up at home due to Covid-19 lockdown.

Shashidhar Shetty has taken up work on his farmland making use of the benefit of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

With the aid from MGNREGS, he has dug up pits to plant areca nut saplings in his land. “I only dug the pits for planting areca nut under the scheme. I was fully engaged during the lockdown,” says Shetty with a smile.

Two years ago, this resourceful farmer was working as an auto mechanic at an oil firm in Muscat. After completing PU, he studied ITI and later availed an apprenticeship at the KIOCL and was employed with the oil firm in Gulf country.

However, passion for farming and love for motherland brought him back to his native. He came back leaving behind a well-paid job. But he was not alone.

His wife Sandhya Shetty, who was a computer science teacher, also left her job to support her husband in farming.

Installed solar panels

Initially, he started by rearing two cows and cultivating vegetables on two-acre land at Kairangala in Balepuni Gram Panchayat jurisdiction. With the guidance from the Jana Shikshana Trust, he has installed solar panels.

Currently, he rears 11 cows and cultivates vegetables and black pepper. This lockdown has failed to deter his spirit. He is trying to make the most from the MGNREGS and hopes to make a profit from areca nut in future.