Sakun Bai (Aged 26) - A change-maker and role model for her community

Sakun Bai (Aged 26) belongs to the village of Bilkisganj and is the secretary of the Samarth Mahila Mahasangh, a group of 35 women chosen from 250 SHGs and over 25 villages. As a mother of two, in her late twenties, she has shouldered the responsibility of spearheading the federation and serving as a voice to reckon with. Along with the other 9 women in her SHG, and 27 similar other SHGs in her village, she has worked towards enhancing the lives of 2200 villagers by encouraging them to build toilets, roads, businesses and has driven the importance of girl education in her village.

This has contributed to more women pursuing higher education and opting to travel to nearby villages for undergraduate studies. Her SHG crowdsources funds every month, that is used for community credit lending to promote businesses, and also serves as a contingency fund which everyone can access.

Sakun Bai also belongs to a cadre of women trained to serve as goat doctors or Pashu Sakhis. She is trained in the 16 best practices to rear goats including inoculation, deworming, gene pool correction techniques, among others. Over the past two years, she has served as the key authority for two villages in her area, which secures the livelihood of 110 goat rearers who own more than 700 goats.

She had done a lot of work for her family and community but still believes there is a long way to go before they can be satisfied with their work.