48-year-old Akhtar Aapa increased her earning by sheep farming. Akhtar Bi is known among locality women as ‘patte wale Akhtar Aapa’; because she supplies vegetable leaves to other houses of the locality for sheep farming. With the money earned from sheep farming Akhtar Aapa performed the marriages of 2 sons and 3 daughters.
She hails from Zaheerabad. When she shifted to Hyderabad she had only one goat. In the beginning she began with sheep farming but when she saw that number of goats is on the rise in the surrounding houses (others followed the footsteps of Akhtar Aapa to increase their earnings), she started selling fodder for the goats which has now become a successful business.
Akhtar Aapa heads for vegetable mandi of Guddimalkapur at 5 am in the morning and buys waste vegetable leaves from the shops. She says close to 300 people in her locality rear goats and they purchase vegetable leaves from Akhtar Aapa at the cost of Rs. 5 and 10. Besides selling vegetable leaves and goats, Akhtar Aapa also runs a vegetable shop. Her hard work has paid her rich dividends. She has also spent Rs. 40000 for the rehabilitation of her husband who was an alcoholic.
Special correspondent