Rajnandgaon: Padma Shri award recipient Phoolbasan Bai Yadav, resident of Sukuldaihan, a small village in Rajnandgaon, has set many examples for the women and now she will be seen on the hot seat of 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' (KBC) on Friday (October 23).
The self-help women's group formed by her is now giving livelihood to 2 lakh women today. This is the reason why she has got an opportunity to participate in the special Karmaveer episode of KBC, where she will sit on the hot seat in front of megastar Amitabh Bachchan.
She has been selected as 'Karmaveer' for the KBC episode.
Talking to ETV Bharat, Padmashri Phoolbasan Yadav said that she got married at the age of 10 and had to come to her in-laws at the age of 13. She was born in a very poor family and saw poverty at her in-law's place also. Sometimes she remained without food for up to 2-3 days. There came a time when she and her children had to starve for a couple of days. Finally, after getting exasperated, she decided that she would embrace death. But she was stopped and encouraged by her children.
Padmashree Phoolbasan Yadav says that her daughter gave her the courage to live this life; now she wants to live it on her own condition and vowed that she will not only live her life stepping out of the four walls of the house, but she will also help the poor, exploited and oppressed women of the society.
The Maa Bamleshwari self-help group, which began in 2001, is now a group of about 2 lakh women. Today this women group has an amount of 40 crores. This amount is also given to banks in interest. The group started with 12 women from the village. The amount of about 40 crores is in the account of the women's group, which women are given as finance to provide them with employment and make them self-reliant.
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Speaking to ETV Bharat, Phoolbasan Yadav said that women will have to become self-sufficient. Women must come out of their homes without any hesitation and face every situation by becoming the Rani of Jhansi. Nearly 2 lakh women are standing on their feet in 16 villages of the district today and are moving towards self-sufficiency. They are fighting against the evils that are prevailing in the society and are also struggling to create an addiction-free society.
''Every single woman from the village has become an example of empowerment today. To break the cycle of poverty, we have united women and made them stand independently in every village. Empowering women with yam farming, organic farming, building an organic fertilizer company, making flowers from Agarbattis, dairy products, goat rearing, poultry farming, small farms, making women self-reliant professionally. Many such works have been done commercially through the women's group, whose turnover is in crores.'' said Phoolbasan Yadav.
The social change maker says that weeding out the social evils from the society is the major responsibility of the women's group. They have prepared women soldiers in every village, who fight the evil practices prevailing in the society. They wander late till 1:30 at night, agitating against the liquor shops in the village. Apart from this, the women's group has also worked tremendously well on the construction of toilets.
Padma Shri awardee further said that for the advancement of women in the field of education and health, she has ensured the participation of women in the immunization program of the Health Department. The role of women has been ensured in the implementation of the government's schemes as well. Every year the group drive encouraging plantation and water conservation along with Beti Bachao campaigns in the district. The women go door to door in the village and explain these Government Programmes to the people. To prevent child marriages, the women's group has made people aware of knocking at every house in the district.
Yadav told that till now she has received more than 50 lakhs rupees as an honour. She has invested this amount for the upliftment of the women's group. Apart from motivating women to work in different fields, she has also been helping them financially.
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