The mineral-rich district provides water to much of Bihar and to neighbouring West Bengal via the Masannjore Dam, so it's ironical that it was in the grip of an acute water crisis. The drought seemed permanent—until a frail-looking woman called Basanti Devi promised to change things around a bit. Four years later, Dumka celebrates the miracle as water flows in an uninterrupted torrent from their pumps at the touch of a handle.
Basanti Devi's daily routine is somewhat different from that of most women in rural India. Domestic chores are followed by an hour of teaching at the village school. At 8 am, Basanti hops onto her bicycle and makes the 15 km trip from her village, Sagarbhanga, to the village of Dumka. Equipped with a toolkit and accompanied by husband Nandlal Man-dal, this expert hand-pump mechanic repairs and installs the pumps that form the lifeline for villages in the district. It's a routine that she's followed with a quiet determination and a perfectionist zeal since 1994.
Thanks to Basanti Devi, about 146 families in the nondescript village of Sagarbhanga have discovered new hope. The continuous supply of water from their hand-pumps has allowed them to do proper irrigation, revolutionising the village economy. Says local Youth Congress leader Shyamal Kishore Singh, "Before 1994, villagers sat idle, drinking desi wine. Once Basanti Devi came on the scene, everyone has work." Sagarbhanga's six hand-pumps have been functional for the last four years.
More articulate than government officials and local politicians, Basanti says it began when she decided she'd had enough. The hand-pumps installed by the government in each and every village stood as mocking witnesses to the acute water crisis. She decided that if she trained as a hand-pump mechanic, she could solve the problem permanently. Government officials gave her the necessary training under the Trisem scheme run in tandem with Dumka-based NGO Jago Behna. Initially she had to work hard to convince people that she could do the job with as much ease as a male mechanic. Today, she says nonchalantly, "If a man can do it, why can't a woman? She is not inferior." She also had to contend with the villagers' skepticism, but four years of being the water-bearer of the district has changed that. "After seeing the results, both in economic as well as social terms, the same people envy me," boasts Basanti, brimming over with pride.
Today, the 40-year-old Basanti looks at her four children with pride. With her earnings—about Rs 1,500 per month—good meals and clothes, formerly scarce, are now there for the asking. Starting with voluntary services, Basanti now charges Rs 100 to repair a hand-pump outside her village. The district administration has hired her to repair all four defunct hand-pumps inside the Dumka jail. "Pet bharne ke liye paise lete hain (I charge in order to feed my family)," explains Basanti. Having studied up to class VII, Basanti is determined to educate her children. Though her eldest daughter was married at the age of 14—"out of ignorance", she rues—her son is a matriculate and her other two daughters are studying in the village school. The local hand-pump mechanic has yet another avatar—as the president of the Jago Behna unit of the Ghasipur panchayat.Says the convenor of the district Nagarik Manch, Thakur Shyam Sundar Singh: "It is because of the example set by people like Basanti that Dumka is untouched by the Naxal or other political problems."
For the people of Dumka, Basanti Devi's value goes beyond her handiness with a wrench. She demonstrates that all you need is the courage to follow a pipe dream until it becomes reality. Anyone who requires Basanti's services may contact her at village: Sagarbhanga, P.O. Ghasipur via Kuruwa, District Dumka or at the no. 06434-23148.
