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Just a week ago, The Better India shared the story of Vitthal Hari Mandole (Vithoba) of Khadki Budruk village, who tilled his land with a cot because he could not afford a plough and a pair of bulls. Thanks to the extremely generous response from our readers, Vithoba collected enough money to purchase a pair of bulls within five days of TBI running his story.

On July 1, 2016, The Better India team came to know about a drought-hit farmer in Maharashtra who tilled his 3 acre land with a cot because he could not afford a plough and a pair of bulls.

His children had to be taken out of school, his wife was ill and he had a huge debt to take care of.

We wanted to bring the story of this brave man, who was using all possible means to fight the hard situation he was in, to our readers. We felt you all may want to help him out so we provided his contact number and bank details and left the rest in your hands.

As always, our readers did not disappoint. Vithoba received more than 50 calls in 5 days, not only from Maharashtra but also from other states like Chennai and Andhra Pradesh.

The article also caught the attention of the NGO HOPE, now known as Shivprabha Charitable Trust, Pune. The NGO decided to gift a pair of bulls to Vithoba.

The story was also circulated in the Whatsapp group of farmers – Baliraja. Balaji Hendre Patil, a Baliraja member, took the responsibility of finding a good and reasonably priced pair of bulls for Vithoba.

Balaji Hendre Patil is from Delub village in Nanded district. He searched for the bulls in three different markets of Nanded and finalized the best pair at a cost of Rs. 54,500 (which included transportation from Nanded to Khadki Budruk Village). He took this decision because the cost of a pair of bulls in Vithoba’s village is around Rs.70,000.

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Balaji also did a “test run” with the bulls and other farming equipment on his own farm before setting off to see Vithoba.

On July 7, he left Nanded at 4 am and reached Vithoba’s place at 3 pm.

“I was welcomed just like a film star by the villagers. The entire village was there. Not only the Mandole family but each one of the villagers was so excited and happy,” Balaji told us.

More donations continue to flow into Vithoba’s account. In just 5 days, Rs. 77,000 was donated by our readers, a princely sum for a poor farmer.

Vithoba is going to repay his debts with this amount. His younger son Rahul has also taken admission in I.T.I. The local MLA, Mr. Umesh Patil has taken the responsibility for his education.

“I am so thankful to The Better India and Shivprabha Charitable Trust. Everyone heard our story and was moved but you were the ones who actually helped. This was like a miracle for us, like God answering all our prayers,” said an ecstatic Vithoba.

We, at The Better India, want to thank you, our readers, from the bottom of our hearts for your large-heartedness, kindness and donations for this brave farmer and his family. You rescued a farmer from the brink of desperation.

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