Priya Khot, Latur, Maharashtra

๐…๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐‡๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐‹๐ข๐ฏ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐–๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง-๐‹๐ž๐ ๐‹๐ข๐ฏ๐ž๐ฅ๐ข๐ก๐จ๐จ๐๐ฌ

๐™๐™ง๐™ค๐™ข ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™จ๐™ข๐™–๐™ก๐™ก ๐™ซ๐™ž๐™ก๐™ก๐™–๐™œ๐™š ๐™ค๐™› ๐™‹๐™–๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™˜๐™๐™ค๐™ก๐™ž ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™‡๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ง ๐™™๐™ž๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ž๐™˜๐™ฉ, ๐™ˆ๐™–๐™๐™–๐™ง๐™–๐™จ๐™๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™–, ๐™‹๐™ง๐™ž๐™ฎ๐™– ๐™†๐™๐™ค๐™ฉโ€™๐™จ ๐™Ÿ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ฎ ๐™จ๐™๐™ค๐™ฌ๐™จ ๐™๐™ค๐™ฌ ๐™ฌ๐™ค๐™ข๐™š๐™ฃโ€™๐™จ ๐™ก๐™š๐™–๐™™๐™š๐™ง๐™จ๐™๐™ž๐™ฅ ๐™˜๐™–๐™ฃ ๐™ฆ๐™ช๐™ž๐™š๐™ฉ๐™ก๐™ฎ ๐™ง๐™š๐™จ๐™๐™–๐™ฅ๐™š ๐™ง๐™ช๐™ง๐™–๐™ก ๐™ก๐™ž๐™ซ๐™š๐™จ.

Not long ago, most women in Panchincholi remained confined to their homes, with little economic freedom or exposure. Farming, entrepreneurship, and leadership opportunities were limited by lack of awareness, confidence, and institutional support. This began to change when Swayam Shikshan Prayog introduced village-level trainings on sustainable agriculture, entrepreneurship, and womenโ€™s empowerment.

Priya stepped forward as a Sakhi, motivating women to come together and explore new livelihood opportunities. What started with just ten women soon grew as visible progress inspired others. Today, Priya has mobilised 30 women farmers to adopt Women-Led Climate Resilient Farming (WCRF) practices, with 10 fully transitioning to organic farming. Women were trained to prepare and use organic inputs like Jeevamrut and Dashparni Ark, strengthening climate-resilient agriculture.

Alongside farming, Priya also promoted entrepreneurship. Thirty women received entrepreneurship training, and 20 have started their own small businesses, supported through free Udyam Registration under the Ministry of MSME. Two women set up food-processing units, creating local income opportunities. Women now earn through vegetable vending, tailoring-based saree businesses, and bamboo-based livelihoods, with 40 women gaining employment through a bamboo cluster.

Through the JalTara project, 19 individuals received approvals, improving water-based livelihoods. Twelve women also received maize seeds through support from the Animal Husbandry Department, further strengthening farm incomes.

Today, Priya is recognised as a dependable village leader, connecting women to local government, schemes, and opportunities. Inspired by Prema Gopalanโ€™s vision of collective leadership, she dreams of nurturing 30 micro-entrepreneurs and 50 fully organic farmersโ€”building a future led by confident, self-reliant rural women.

Swayam Shikshan Prayog
10 February, 2026