Rajbiraj, December 29 The Musahar community in Saptari that was otherwise happy to work as wage labourers have now adopted vegetable farming as a new and decent line of work to earn their livelihood. Though they don’t have a strip of land to call their own, Musahars and other backward and impoverished communities of Tilathi-Koiladi, Chhinnamasta and Bishnupur rural municipalities have taken to this new occupation under the Sponsorship Programme launched with the support of Save the Children and the initiatives of Save the Saptari. Draupadidevi Sada of Bishnupur Rural Municipality-6, Ranjitpur has taken four kattha land on lease to grow vegetables. She has grown a number of vegetables items such as cauliflower, chilly, brinjan and radish in her vegetable garden. “I sold a batch of cauliflower earlier for a good sum of money. Now we are preparing to sell another batch, for another good sum, I hope,” she said. “Though I was not very enthusiastic about it in the beginning, now we are earning handsome amount of money by selling vegetables, and most importantly we are not working for others,” she added, sharing her plan to employ her husband too in this occupation once he returns from his work in India. Saraswoti Sada of Tilathi-Koiladi Rural Municipality-4 is happy about her new occupation. “Earlier, I used to waste my free time chatting with other women, but ever since I started growing vegetables, I’m making money, with which I can provide for the education of my kids and partly pay for the daily expenses,” she said, while Launiyan’s Renu Devi Sada mostly rejoices the financial independence that the new occupation has brought to her and her family. Save the Saptari agriculture technician Ram Kumar Sah hoped the programme will bring significant change in the life of the impoverished and the downtrodden.