Patna, Aug 08: At an estimated 90,000 milk co-operative societies in the country, farmers bring milk twice daily and, on an average, stand in the queue for 10 minutes. Can this time be utilised? The question crossed the mind of Anupam Srivastava, a journalism graduate, in 1996. He approached Dr Sriman Narayan, MD of Patna Dairy Project, with the idea to produce a wall paper — that would carry short articles of use for rural development, for instance, on polio vaccines, livestock management and government schemes. The newspaper could be distributed through the milk collection network of the dairy, the concept note suggested.
Narayan was excited and got the other board members along, who were not so sure about the concept. ‘‘What have you done in journalism to do this,’’ a board member cornered the graduate from Indian Institute of Mass Communication. Assured that he did not want money and thanks to Narayan’s enthusiasm, the board gave him permission to do an experimental launch covering 900 villages.
The paper has been such a success that it is now being replicated in five more states, reaching out to 36 lakh people. Srivastava’s Partibadh today reaches 15,000 villages in Bihar, West Bengal, Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra, in Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi and Bengali.

‘‘Soon we will launch in Tamil Nadu,’’ says the unassuming 36-year-old who doesn’t have an office or a phone or a computer but has become a busy man who divides his time between five states. ‘‘I give Rs 300 every month to the computer typesetter and get my work done, which is easier than making and running an office,’’ he says.
Pratibadh has not accepted donation from anyone, though there have been enough offers. ‘‘Every funding source has a disadvantage — it will dry sooner or later. And people do not value things given free to him,’’ Srivastava says of his revenue model, which involves collecting 30 paise to 50 paise from individual farmers every month.
Srivastava, would rather like his venture described as a professional enterprise than social service, and is proud of the small profit it makes from day one. Every 15 days, the milk van that reaches villages carries two copies of the fortnightly Pratibadh which are then pasted on the walls.
It has become part of the co-operative society secretary’s job to paste it, who also collects the small contributions from farmers against the price of the paper.
It is not a one-way communication — the milk van collects letters and documents too from the collection centres — regarding requirements for cattle vaccines, fodder etc. People write to the editor of Pratibadh also through this network, some times demanding more reading material.
Srivastava wants to increase the content of the paper and the number of copies given to each village, without increasing the cost. Says Virender Prasad Singh, president of the Milk Co-operative Society in Navbhatpur in Patna: ‘‘Pratibadh has not only been helpful in providing information on many topics to farmers; even more importantly, it has encouraged their reading habit.’’
Besides popularising agricultural extension programmes — which is what makes the milk co-operatives interested in the venture — the paper provides many other useful information. Job advertisements is one.
Villagers usually do not get to see announcements of mass recruitments in Army, Railways etc, but Pratibadh gives a small synopsis with direction on where to look for details. But two topics are taboo: politics and controversies.