Shikha Dhakar: An Inspiring Tale Of Our Female Delivery Partner

Nurturement, support, self-doubt, hesitancy, ambiguity, and an unrelenting spirit — it’s a mixed bag of emotions that drives the world every single day. One day, you might find the encouragement you need, while on other days, you might find yourself drowning in doubt. So, what do some people find in themselves to rise above that? How do they push themselves to make the world a better place every day? The answer remains self-belief. It was much the same for our Last-Mile Delivery Partner in AgroStar — Shikha Dhakar. The only difference? She’s the ONLY woman delivery partner we have who has scaled greater heights in such a short span.

So, what makes Shikha special?

Most of us live in a gender-biased world, where patriarchy still exists. While exceptions try to make a case for a gender-neutral world, we still have a long way to go. In rural India, while women remain constrained to the role of “caregivers,” there came Shikha, bringing her unwavering spirit, willing to change the narrative. Wonder what made her take the next step? It was her self-belief and her conviction of achieving a great feat. Hailing from a tiny village in Madhya Pradesh, she dodged all the curveballs thrown at her and became our Last-Mile Delivery Partner, where the clear majority remained with the men.

Was the journey easy for her? Surely not! Like most women in India, she faced societal pressure that could quite easily crush one’s soul. In addition, many other aspects, such as intellectual awareness, emotional and financial stability, and social obligations, were proving to become deterrents in her rise to success. Nevertheless, Shikha’s zeal to progress in life strengthened when her family, specifically her brother, encouraged her.

Being from a farming family, her understanding of how things work and with the help of AgroStar, she began the collection and delivery of parcels to the farmers. But, has any road to victory been without hurdles? Wading through obstacles, she paved the way for herself and received an encouraging response from the farmers. The encouragement from the farmers, the strong support of her family, the training, development and collaboration opportunities at AgroStar, and most importantly her own self-confidence have helped her become a diligent, hardworking and successful delivery partner at AgroStar.

Today, with two delivery boys working under her, she feels responsible for them and their families. More so, she remains committed to inclusive development and the welfare and empowerment of women, farmers, and marginalized people. In her words, she has gained many new experiences and learned new things by working with AgroStar, which also helped her support her family financially. Now, four tehsils come under her jurisdiction, and she gives her all to ensure everyone there gets what they want. Her passion for her work inspires us to continue on this path and #HelpingFarmersWin.

We at AgroStar consider ourselves fortunate to assist Shikha Dhakar in her quest to become financially self-sufficient. Shikha is now an active community member of #WomenInAgriculture, who promotes farmers’ causes and inspires change in the agricultural community. Shikha’s unwavering determination will turn out to be motivating for many such ladies from rural India. AgroStar is proud to unlock digital for Bharat and serve the #NextBillion with a solution that promotes #Impact on the lives of Indian farmers and Indian Agriculture. At AgroStar, each of us takes great pride in #HelpingFarmersWin, one village at a time.

Written by:

Arindam Dutta