Chhotanagpur Mahila Pashupalan Vikas Producer Company Limited

Chhotanagpur Mahila Pashupalan Vikas Producer Company Limited is a local group run out of the Simdega district. Our main office is actually the home of Uma Barik and Birsa Barik in Tetar Tolivill. It’s in the Bano area, which is quite rural. We don't have a big office building with a glass front. Instead, we meet in the village, surrounded by the fields and the animals we work with. The company is focused on pashupalan, which means looking after the livestock like cows and goats. It’s mostly the women from the village who are involved. We try to help each other out with the breeding and selling. It’s hard work, especially in the heat, but it’s what we know. The post office is in Bano, and that’s where we get our letters. Sometimes the roads to Tetar Toli are a bit rough, but we manage to get things moved. Being at a house makes the business feel very personal. We aren't some distant corporation. We are neighbors and friends working together. We talk about the weather and the crops just as much as we talk about the business. It’s a community effort more than anything else. We don't have any fancy titles or expensive equipment. We just have our knowledge of the animals and the support of the other families in the village. It’s a humble way to run a producer company, but it works for us.