Progressive bee farmer Sangeeta Deol dies at 66

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 20

After fighting a long and lonely battle with diabetes, Sangeeta Deol, who was popular as ‘Honey Bee Queen’ in the region, breathed her last at Dhanal Kalan village here yesterday.

The fighter and acclaimed farmer was hailed as a success story among women farmers in the region. She died in utter penury with her family failing to afford her treatment due to a lack of finances.

Affected by polio since her childhood, Sangeeta (66) had been battling diabetes for the past three months but due to the lack of a lucrative income, the family couldn’t afford to keep her at the hospital for more than a month.

Prithpal Singh, son of Sangeeta Deol, said, “She clearly lost her life due to lack of finances for treatment. While she was honoured and felicitated for her contributions in her entire life and officials from the administration made a beeline to our house, no one even bothered to visit our home when she was sick and at the hospital during the last days.”

In utter penury, the family has not even been able to pay the electricity bill for the past three months. While she was promised a “water motor connection” by the previous Badal government, she did not get the same. A reminder regarding the same was sent to CM Badal in 2016 by Deol during a sangat darshan programme at Uggi village, but it fell on deaf ears.

While Deol started cultivating a crop in 1971, she started keeping poultry in 1976. In 1984, she began keeping bees.

While the family had as many as 4,500 beehives at one point of time, they are left with only 1,200 now. Prithpal said global warming and environmental degradation played an important role in the reduction of hives. Garnering wide attention for her efforts, she bagged the attention of the farming community in the state.

There is a long of list of her achievements. She got the Farmer of the Year Award in 1999, honoured by the Punjab Kisan Club for promoting farming, bagged the Mind of Steel Award, Lifetime Achievement Award by ATMA, honoured by the Punjab Government on a number of occasions.

She was the ex-chairperson of the ATMA and remained as the president of the Beekeeper Association. She also served as the chairperson of the PAU’s Kisan Club.

Long list of achievements

• There is a long of list of Sangeeta Deol’s achievements. She got the Farmer of the Year Award in 1999, was honoured by the Punjab Kisan Club for promoting farming, bagged the Mind of Steel Award, Lifetime Achievement Award by ATMA and was honoured by the Punjab Government on a number of occasions. 
• She was the ex-chairperson of ATMA and remained the president of the Beekeepers Association. She also served as the chairperson of the PAU’s Kisan Club.