Tales of Prosperity of the Beneficiaries: Nashik

After willingly consenting to giving their land for the Samruddhi Project, the various landowners from 10 districts executed their land deals with the MSRDC. Once the landowners received the compensation amount from the direct purchase scheme in their respective bank accounts through RTGS, how and where is the money is now being utilized? This is the story of the beneficiaries from Nashik.

Nana Dhamale of Dusangwadi village and Bastiram Shirsath of Patole village in Sinnar taluka in Nashik district are among the many beneficiaries of the Samruddhi Project.

Nana Dhamale owned a total of 5 acres of farmland. Since he had worked on the farm alongside his father right from his childhood, he is well experienced in farming. Due to this, he could completely associate with the sorrow of having to give up his piece of farmland for the Samruddhi project. Several years ago, his world had come crashing down when 10 acres of his land had to be given up for construction of the dam. Eventually, he came out of it. He had to take up the legal route to get money in exchange of his land. Finally, he received some ₹ 1-1.5 lakhs. Since he had not received this money in time and due to the struggle that he had to go through to get it, his spirits were low when he found out that he would have to give up his land for the Samruddhi scheme. However, he felt better towards the scheme after understanding the entire process and he decided to give up his land. Out of a total of 5 acres of land, 1.30 hectares will be used for the scheme. After transacting the land deal, he received a compensation of ₹1.23 crores. Out of this money, he constructed a new house and redecorated his old house. Similarly, Nana has invested some amount in a brick pit in Girnare near Gangapur dam. Along with this, he had already decided to buy farmland in place of the piece of farmland that he had to give up. Thus, he knew how he would be utilizing the money received from the Samruddhi Scheme. He is in talks to purchase a piece of Bagayati land admeasuring 3 acres, situated near Gangapur dam. However, Nanaji tell us that the transaction for the same is still pending. In the future, he plans to cultivate vegetables and send the produce to Mumbai for sale.

Bastiram Shirsath of Patole village has a story similar to that of Nana. He was in the business of farming for the past 25 years. Bastiram’s family consists of 5 members. Their livelihood depended on farming. He owned a total of 5 acres of farmland, however a part of this land was owned by his brother. Because of this, he had to proportionately split whatever income came their way. Since the land was ancestral, both brothers would tend to it with care. However, the income earned out of it was limited. Along with wheat, Bastiramji would cultivate onion, bajra, jowar and maize crops. As the farming was entirely dependent on the rainfall, he also had to appropriately plan the usage of water. Even after cultivating all these crops in the 5 acre piece of land, Bastiramji would hardly end up earning an annual income of ₹ 1-1.5 lakhs. It was difficult to fend for the entire family of five in this limited income; hence Bastiramji supplemented this by starting a milk business, for which he bought cows. However, he complains that after providing for expenses the income earned out of this was also less. 1 acre of Bastiramji’s land was given up for the Samruddhi Mahamarg. Initially when he realized that his land would be utilized for a government scheme, he heavily opposed the project; he even took out a protest rally along with the fellow farmers from his village.

Finally, he came around when he realized that he would be compensated with five times the value for his 1 acre land. He received a compensation of ₹30 lakhs for his 1 acre piece of land and the same was deposited in his bank account in merely a day. After giving his brother his share in the compensation, Bastiramji was left with only ₹15 lakhs. He intends to carry out some repair work for his house and construct another slab out of this money. He also wants to buy 2-3 cows in order to expand the milk business. Besides, he also wants to keep aside some amount for the future. At the same time, he has decided to continue with farming in the remaining 4 acres of land.

Likewise, thousands of beneficiaries from the rest of the districts are looking forward to a brighter future because the Samruddhi Mahamarg Project. Click on the link below to view the life changing stories of the beneficiaries from Nashik district.