The story of Rajanti Devi and the biogas plant in India

Gasum is donating a biogas plant to five Indian families. Thanks to the biogas plant, the women of the families will spend much less time gathering firewood, since gas will replace wood for cooking. The air they breathe will also improve, because there will no longer be flue gases inside from burning wood and manure.

I am Rajanti Devi, wife of Mathuresh Gujjar of Gaddarwada village in Bandikuin block of Dausa district in Rajasthan. Agriculture and animal husbandry is the sole source of livelihood for the family of 9 members. We own 8 animals and 5 hectares of land. With the support of HPPI, a 2 cubic meter biogas plant had been constructed at my house in April, 2015. I am very happy to share that after carefully following all the instructions of HPPI project personnel for the use of biogas plant and its stove, my family is using pollution free and odourless gas for use for cooking in the kitchen.

This technology has relieved me from lot of household chores. Earlier, I used to get up at 4:00 am in the morning and work till 11:00 pm as most of my time was spent in collecting firewood, making dung cakes, cooking etc. due to which most of the times, I felt exhausted and frustrated. Owing to the extreme tiredness, I used to take pain killers to work incessantly. However, after construction of this plant, I am able to complete all kitchen related tasks with ease. Furthermore, our kitchen has become a smoke free place, which has made the task of cooking much easier and I do not face problem of eye irritation and throat infection due to smoky kitchen.

Moreover, bio-gas has also saved me from the drudgery of collecting firewood and making dung cakes; also cooking on bio-gas is faster and easier than cooking on firewood or dung cakes, therefore the time saved can be utilised for assisting my husband in agricultural activities. The construction of bio-gas plant has relieved me from both physical and psychological stress.

In addition, bio-slurry which is nitrogen rich and weed free by-product of bio-gas plant is used in our fields, which has not only increased the yield but have also reduced the expenses on chemical fertilisers and pesticides, with the assurance of organic rich food for my family members. I am very happy with the installation of the biogas plant.

Therefore, I hereby extend my greatest thanks to HPPI and GASUM for having given us the technology which is serving as a boon for us.