The daughters of a farmer in the Chittoor district were forced to pull the plough to aid their father in farming because of the acute financial hardships the family was facing because of the Coronavirus lockdown.
Due to COVID-19, people lost their employment and income. Farmers have no money for agriculture and Nageswara Rao is one such farmer from Rajuvaripalle village, Madanapalle Mandal in Chittoor district. He has no money to hire a tractor or oxen. So, his family joined in and started cultivation on their own. While the daughters, Vennela and Chandana pulled the plough, Nageswara Rao and his wife sowed the seeds.
Vennela, the elder daughter said, "We were residing in Madanapalli for the last 15 years and had a tea stall there. After the lockdown was implemented, we closed our stall and stayed in our residence for a month. With little money left, we returned to our native village in Rajuvaripalle. But we did not have enough money to hire tractors to cultivate the land. So, we started helping our father."
Lalita, the mother of the girls, said, "Our business was hampered due to the lockdown. After one month of lockdown, all our resources were exhausted. So, we returned to our native village. As there are good rains this year, we started agriculture work. But we have no money to rent a tractor. The rent of the tractor is Rs 1,500 per hour. So, we decided to do the work on our own. I, along with my husband and daughters, are together performing the tasks."
The video of girls pulling the plough like oxen became viral on social media and caught the attention of Bollywood actor Sonu Sood.
Responding to the video, Sood tweeted, "Tomorrow morning, he will have a pair of ox to plough the fields. Let the girls focus on their education. The Ox will plough his land from tomorrow. The farmers are our country's pride. Protect them."
Sood later said that he will be sending a tractor to the family instead of ox.
"This family doesn't deserve a pair of ox. They deserve a Tractor. So sending you one. By evening a tractor will be ploughing your fields. Stay blessed," he tweeted.
( With inputs from ANI )