Purnea, Jan. 5: The entire country will follow the example of Bihar in forming rural self-help groups, said chief minister Nitish Kumar, during his Seva Yatra at Tarbari village under Bardela panchayat today.

Nitish, while addressing a large gathering of self-help groups formed by non-government organisation Jeevika, said: “The groups constituted in 44 blocks of seven districts are doing very well. Their success in Bihar has prompted the central government to expand the concept of Jeevika to the whole country. Under the banner of Aajeevika, self-help groups will be formed all over the country.”

Sources said each self-help group comprises 12 to 15 rural women. Jeevika helps these groups to get small loans from banks, and invest the money in animal husbandry, poultry, vegetable and spice cultivation and vermicompost manufacturing. “In Bardela, the vermicompost project has become very successful,” said a source. “You can find a vermicompost bed at the door of almost every house in the village.”

To begin with, there were only 20 to 25 vermicompost beds in the village. Now, the number has jumped to 200. The agriculture department set up 176 of these within a month.

District agriculture officer Chandra Shekhar said: “Each farmer was given a loan of Rs 10,000.” He added that the farmers would also be given a subsidy of Rs 5,000 on the loan.

The chief minister, accompanied by state co-operatives minister Ramadhar Singh, lent a patient ear to the beneficiaries of the self-help groups today. He also praised the growth of the groups, and said: “The number of such clusters has grown over the past year. Six village organisations have been formed with 115 self-help groups in Bardela panchayat.”

Some villagers, however, claimed that the development had taken place only over the past month so that vermicompost beds could be ready for the ninth leg of Nitish’s Seva Yatra.

Garib Rishi Dev, a resident of Bardela, said: “There was no development in my village till a month ago. But many villagers were given financial help suddenly, as the chief minister was scheduled to visit my village.”

He added: “Despite Nitish Kumar’s visit, my village still does not have electricity.”

Officials, however, claim that the vermicompost project had been introduced in the village, populated mostly by people from Scheduled Castes and Tribes and a minority community, for the uplift of the residents.

A source said: “In Bardela panchayat, around 3,000 residents are Santhals (Schedule Tribe). Apart from them, members Mahadalit and Kurmi castes as well as people from a minority community live in the villages. The project was introduced so that they can become economically elf sufficient.”