From Four Walls of House to National Capital

Anasi Devi, a resident of Rawatsar village of Barmer district, is a simple literate woman, who has got herself empowered and is now empowering not only women of her village but also women of nearby villages. She belongs to a Brahmin family and has husband (Khetaram) and two children. Her husband performs the religious works in addition to agriculture.

Earlier, Anasi Devi was spending her life like many other women in the area. Twenty years ago when the workers of MMBA met her during their field work, they felt that she could be empowered if some efforts are made. They told her about the works of the organisation. A self help group was formed in the area, and Anasi Devi was made the leader. Whenever the workers of the organisation visited the Rawatsar village, they met Anasi Devi as well and in this way she was made to come out of her house during a training programme. After taking the training for the first time, she felt that she can do much for herself as well as for the society even after being a woman. From the same day she counselled the women around her and started forming the groups. Today she is leading all the women of the area. In this way she became the voluntary worker of MMBA. She started taking other women of the village out of the four walls of their houses.

Gradually she started visiting Jaipur, Delhi and other places in the programmes of the organisation, taking other women of the village as well. Her main concern was that till the time women were dependent on men, they could not progress. She worked in her village to organise them and afterwards she started organising the women of the nearby villages as well. Today, she is leading 100 women groups. These groups play an important role in village development and also work on group savings. Many women of these groups are running their business after taking loan from the bank through Anasi Devi. Banks and other organisations have full trust in her leadership as she not only makes them the loan available, but she has made the women groups so strong that they pay it back within time.

She has played an important role in getting justice to the affected on the issues of women atrocities, dalit atrocities, child marriage, etc. in the village and the nearby areas. She has done great work in solving the water problems of the area. She has already met the Governor of the state during a state level seminar in Jaipur and told him about the present problems of her village and the nearby areas.

Anasi Devi says that people live for themselves, but the real joy is in living for others.