Anthara was started by Sagari and Nitya Ghotge, veterinary graduates from the Haryana Agriculture University, with the dual aim of empowering rural women and delivering alternative, affordable health care for their livestock. They have already trained over 150 animal health workers in different parts of AP and Maharashtra with the focus primarily on the Adivasi, Dalit and pastoral communities.
"The public health system’s overburdened and inadequate even for us, so you can imagine how bad the situation is for animals," says Sagari. She says in most rural areas government-subsidised veterinary assistance is almost non-existent and, even if available, the allopathic medicines usually prescribed are too expensive for the villagers. Yet, the fact is that livestock is one of the biggest assets of marginal agrarian families. Villagers tend to sink their savings into them and at times of crisis even sell the livestock to raise cash. So if the animal gets a disease or dies, it is a big economic shock, often equivalent to losing an entire life’s savings.
Anthara’s initial aim was to train only women as animal health care workers, more rooted as they are to the rural environment. However, this didn’t prove practical. It now works with other ngos to identify suitable men and women who can be trained. Literacy isn’t a pre-requisite and preference is given to candidates with hands-on experience with livestock.
Following the initial training workshop, each worker is given a medical kit—to last approximately six months. The kit includes homoeopathic and herbal medicines and "commonly used, affordable" allopathic drugs. Ten years of field experience has helped Anthara develop effective herbal and homoeopathic drugs that can be administered to the animals at a fraction of the cost of allopathic drugs. Sagari says a course of herbal medication costs a farmer around Rs 12 whereas an antibiotic course to treat the same ailment costs between Rs 100-150.
The animal health workers are also trained to identify the plants and roots required to make these herbal medicines and to stir up some of these potions. To meet expenses, most workers charge a nominal fee for their services while in some villages they are paid a fixed amount from a common village fund. Anthara also supports them in holding mass vaccinations and in the de-worming sessions for livestock and poultry. Regular workshops are held to update their skills, where feedback is also received on the programmes. Some of the organisation’s other activities include developing local fodder and research and documentation of indigenous knowledge on livestock care. As a part of this drive, there are regular interactions with the vaids (traditional healers) to tap their reserve of indigenous knowledge. Anthara recently held a symposium which was attended by these vaids and has published a document on local remedies for common livestock problems.
"Documentation of such indigenous knowledge is very important to ensure its continuity within the community," says Sagari. According to her, traditionally the vaids used to verbally pass on the knowledge to the next generation but with most young people no longer showing interest, there is a real danger of this great pool of priceless knowledge disappearing forever. For more details, contact Anthara, 122 Vayupuri, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh 500097. Ph: 040-7113167, 7110977 E-mail: anthara@vsnl.com