For an outsider, it is pretty obvious to think about an average rural Kashmiri girl or woman to be someone engaged in managing household chores, nurturing kids, and taking care of the family. While it is true that many Kashmiri ladies have found themselves locked in routine tasks for years, some have managed to break free from the conventional norms and set examples! They’ve stepped out and proved their worth, which is much more than what the world usually perceives about them. Asiya Bashir is one such difference-maker!
Who is Asiya Bashir?
Asiya Bashir belongs to an agrarian family from the Chiraath village in the Shopian district of Kashmir. The young graduate always wanted to become an entrepreneur to support her family financially. Accordingly, she started a dairy farming business, with help from the Department of Animal Husbandry Shopian under the department’s Integrated Dairy Development Scheme (IDDS).
Hard Work and Help!
Today, it’s been two years since Asiya’s venture began, and within a short period, the dairy has witnessed exponential growth. Asiya attributes her success to the sincere advice and help she has been receiving from the officials of the Animal Husbandry Department. The local department has been providing her special feed and fodder, training and vet services to help her fuel business growth.
Asiya nurtures 12 cows. Out of those 12, six produce about 90 to 100 liters of milk per day with help from the Jammu and Kashmir Milk Producers Cooperative Limited. The young entrepreneur received equipment such as a bucket type automated milking machine, genset, and milk cooler from the Animal Husbandry Department of Shopian. This help has made large-scale commercial dairy farming simpler for Asiya.
The young entrepreneur continuously looks forward to adding new technologies to her business to accelerate it and make it even more profitable. Asiya believes that dairy farming is a promising business for Kashmiri youth, especially considering the unemployment situation in the valley.
Asiya – An Inspiration
This is only the beginning and Asiya is yet to achieve a lot as an entrepreneur. However, the young lady has certainly proved that Kashmiri women are much more capable than what the world may think. The only thing women need is the courage to start, some support from the family, awareness about the help available, and a lot of determination to succeed and survive, while cutting through socio-economic challenges.
While Asiya has done it and she’s doing good for herself, we hope, many more Kashmiri women, who are aspiring entrepreneurs, take the initiative and prove their mettle in the years to come. Their initiatives and decisions will undoubtedly help grow the valley’s economy and generate employment for its citizens.
