Daasi, a voluntarily relocated woman of the Sollepura Relocation Centre, is an independent farmer who has been involved in sustainable agriculture for nearly a decade-and-a-half now. Apart from the three-acre land she received as a part of the government sponsored voluntary relocation scheme, she has taken two more acres on lease to grow mushrooms, coconut, areca and cardamom among other things. We are grateful for the generous support of Larsen & Toubro Infotech Limited and NatWest India Foundation who have supported our livelihood support programmes for beneficiaries of the government-sponsored voluntary relocation programme. With no prior experience in agriculture, Daasi has still managed to be honoured by several organisations and the Karnataka government as a remarkable farmer.
Here is Daasi receiving the ‘Raita Ratna’ award, an event organised by Suvarna News, a Kannada News Channel, and Kannada Prabha, a leading Kannada daily. Also seen in the photo are Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr. B. S. Yediyurappa, Agriculture Minister of the state, Mr. B. C. Patil, and philanthropist and the hereditary administrator/Dharmadhikari of the Dharmasthala Temple, Mr. Veerendra Heggade.
Here's the link to Asianet News's feature of the event, in Kannada.