5 Sisters As Bureaucrats: A Rare Example of Grit And Perseverance!
Author: Rajeev R
Education is the first and most painful casualty of poverty, but five sisters of Rajasthan have scripted a rare story, which will keep inspiring generations to come to fight and not to give in to hardships, writes Rajeev R of Bureaucrats India.
Jaipur: Born to a school drop-out father and unlettered mother, five sisters of a nondescript village – Bhairusari – in Hanumangarh district and their lone brother are a great example of the proverbial but an eternal fact that where there is a will, there is a way. Defeating odds and surmounting all types of challenges, which come along with poverty, they are now shining examples of grit and determination. If five sisters are now members of coveted Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS), while their lone brother, an alumnus of IIT, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, is preparing for the Union Civil Services Examination, the country’s toughest but most fulfilling examination.
Yes, we are talking about Anshu Saharan, Suman Saharan and Ritu Saharan, who have 349, 915 and 945 in the recently declared RAS examination. Their two elder sisters – Roma and Manju -- cracked the RAS examination in 2010 and 2012 respectively. They are currently posted in Surajgarh of Jhunjhunu district and Nohar of Hanumangarh. Their brother Abhiraj Saharan is preparing himself for the UPSC examination.
What makes them unique is not the fact that they achieved what every student aspires to achieve, but they have been able to chase their dreams against odds when most of us either give up or fail to visualize the fact that there is a silver lining at the end of every tunnel. They left their school after completing Class 5 education as their parents could not afford to send them to nearby school for higher studies. They studied at home.
According to their father Sehdev Saharan, their children studied till Class V in the village and completed their graduation privately. They have also cleared the National Eligibility Test (NET), which is conducted by the University Grants Commission (UGC) for those who aspire to join higher education as teachers. “My children did not take any tuition. They focussed on self-studies. They have made our family and the entire village proud,” Saharan told the media with a brimming face.
The proud father agreed that the achievement of his daughter would be an inspiration for those who treat daughters as a burden. Pawan Kaliravan of Bhairusari Youth Club is of the view that the news of five sisters’ success has put the village on the global map. “No one knew about our village earlier. People could not even find it on Google. These girls have brought laurels to the village. It is a big success to clear the exam by studying in farms, 3 km away from the main village,” he said.
Needless to say that there is no dearth of talent in rural areas. The success of five sisters has left their village Bhairusari gasping in media glaze and a new recognition. Bureaucrats India wishes them all the best for their future endeavours!
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The exports of agricultural commodities from March to June 2020 shot up by 23.24 percent on-year to Rs 25,552.7 crores.
As the economy comes to a standstill amid the coronavirus-led lockdown, India’s agriculture sector has taken the baton of economic growth in its hands. The exports of agricultural commodities from March to June 2020 shot up by 23.24 percent on-year to Rs 25,552.7 crores, according to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. The government said that self-reliant agriculture is critical for the goal of an Atmanirbhar Bharat and for this, agricultural export is extremely important as besides earning foreign exchange for the country, the exports help farmers, producers, and exporters to take advantage of the wider international market and increase their income.
The surge in exports has also resulted in increased production in the farm sector by increasing coverage area and productivity. The share of India’s agricultural exports and imports in the world agriculture trade in 2017 was 2.27 percent and 1.90 percent, respectively. Even during the difficult time of pandemic lockdown, India took care not to disturb the world food supply chain and continued to export, the government said.
Ministry of Agriculture has prepared a comprehensive action plan for the promotion of Agri trade; the twofold approach focuses on boosting Agri Export with emphasis on value addition and action plan for Import Substitution. Recently, the Agriculture sector has witnessed a series of reforms, giving more choices to the farmers to sell their produce at competitive rates.
To mention a few, the Export strategy focuses on the export promotion of fast-evolving niche markets of Wellness food/ Health-conscious food/nutraceuticals, Development of “Brand India” in campaign mode to help penetration into new foreign markets and of new products which automatically translates into higher value realization, Gulf countries have been identified as focus destination to increase the market share which is a strong market for India though presently India caters to only 10-12% share of their total imports. A product-market matrix has been made containing a list of products of strength that could be expanded in new geographies and a list of known markets which can be introduced with newer products.
At the behest of the Department of Agricultural Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, product-specific Export Promotion Forums have been created to lead Agri exports to new heights. Each Export Promotion Forum shall be having exporters of the related commodity as its members along with official members representing concerned Ministries/Departments of the Central and State Governments. Chairman APEDA shall be the chairman of each of these forums. The forums will meet at least once every two months, to discuss recommendations on issues pertaining to the export.
The recommendations of the forum will be placed in the product committee / Authority of APEDA. The Forum will keep in close contact with the concerned organization of the Ministry of Agriculture such as MIDH, Extension, NPPO, etc., DGFT, Ministry of Civil Aviation, MoFPI, etc. to further the interest of agricultural export.
