In 1972, Sister Rose Kayathinkara was on her way to Nagaland, when she “found her way” and wound up in Garo.
“I can never forget my visit here,” she said. “The people were poor, but joyous, and the land was rich and fertile – I knew this was where I wanted to work.”
According to her colleagues at the Catholic Church, the primary duty of a nun was to care for the sick and young, teach in schools and stick to pastoral work. Instead, Sister Rose, like a true entrepreneur, saw the potential in Garo’s high-yielding land, and latched onto the idea of growing rubber to alleviate poverty in the hills – as she had seen it do in her home state of Kerala.
The Mendipathar Multipurpose Cooperative Society, which Rose began in 1998, holds up the economy of hundreds of families in the North Garo Hills District. It is one of the few success stories of Meghalaya, a bright spot in decades of failed government schemes and programmes. Today, Rose’s expertise is often sought by the government of Meghalaya.
With demonetisation, all of this is set to change.
“We are facing the worst crisis right now,” said Rose, while describing the policy of demonetisation as “anti-rural”.
“Right now I am trying to borrow money from people,” she said. “The daily requirement to pay farmers is approximately Rs 3 to 4 lakh – at present, Reserve Bank of India guidelines allow us to give them only Rs 50,000 per day in cheques. When the farmer goes to the bank in Mendipathar, the banks do not have cash.”
“This is not Delhi, Mumbai or America. There is only one ATM in the entire North Garo Hills. We had opened up bank accounts for farmers long ago, but because people do not use or needed them they all lapsed.”
Bouncing back
Born to Thomas and Elizabeth Kayathinkara in the district of Bharananganam, Kerala, Rose said she developed what she calls a “socio-political nature” while studying Social Welfare at Bhopal University in 1974. But the courage to strike out on her own came only because of the constant support and encouragement from her own congregation of sisters, the Medical Mission Sisters, in 1961.
“In the beginning they were not happy at all. But I had a mind of my own,” said the 74-year-old nun.
By 1986, Rose had contacted the Rubber Board of India, and conducted door-to-door campaigns convincing the people of Mendipathar, the poorest district about 225 km from Shillong, on the Meghalaya-Assam border, to grow rubber as a source of income. Initially, farmers were resistant to her plan, because the rubber yield involves a long-gestation period. Once the product was finally ready, because there were no agencies to help farmers negotiate the market, middle-men began to conduct a thriving business.
Sister Rose, once derisively referred to as “Rubber Rose” by her colleagues, was determined to bounce back. She began a co-operative society to help farmers and their families in the North Garo Hills District. The Mendipathar Multipurpose Cooperative Society was finally formed with share capital from government departments and contributions by the farmers, at a ratio of 60:30:10.
Rubber sheets were now marketed by the co-operative to ensure profit for farmers and their families.
Today, apart from rubber, the society deals in poultry and piggery farming, turmeric, black pepper and other agriculture products that need marketing. The co-operative purchases from the farmers, stores produce and sells it at a proper price. It has warehouses and stores, and also runs a stationery and dispensary in Mendipathar, creating employment for the youth and women of Garo. The numerous self-help groups set up around these activities also campaign for gender equality, and spread awareness in the fight against domestic violence prevalent in the villages.
“When I see the people’s pukka houses, they have motorbikes, some have secondhand cars, children are being sent to school all through farming, that is my greatest moment,” said Rose. “I look forward to children from these impoverished [families] studying at better schools, and going to higher places in society.”
Eliminating middle-men has meant that Rose has faced her share of bad weeds. In May 2012, she survived an attempt to kidnap her from her convent, thanks to a fellow nun called Cecelia. She would have been carried off were it not for the swift intervention of others present in the convent.
Thanks to Rose, a rubber farmer can earn around Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 6 lakhs a year on one or two hectares of land. But Rose is determined not to let Garo’s farmers become monoculturists, and has now started encouraging coconut plantations. With the help of the coconut board, she has recently distributed 4,000 coconut saplings.