In Bihar, Aastha Singh had quit a lucrative job earning Rs 18 lakh a year to change the lives of farmers. She quit modelling and started her enterprise, 'Gramshree Kisan', which has reached Rs 3 crore in annual turnover. Aastha is training farmers in Bihar's agriculture, animal husbandry, and fish farming.
Born in Patna, Aastha got married in 2010 to an engineer with the railways, Vivek Kumar. She pursued modelling while studying for her degree in engineering which she completed from Pune after 12th. She also does an MBA. Aastha has worked with top companies such as City Head for Oyo, where she drew in a monthly wage of Rs 18 lakh. Previously, she was a Fuel Manager at Bharti Infratel Limited and served as an Engineer at Tata Teleservices. In 2019, she joined the Government of Bihar Animal and Fisheries Resources Department as a Project Unit Consultant, as reported by NavBharatTimes.
Though she did emerge as the winner of a stint at a modelling competition in the Philippines after a photoshoot in Mumbai, family concerns wouldn't let her go, so she bid bye to model and decided to work for a better life for farmers. In June 2019, Aastha launched 'Gramshree Kisan', starting first with a YouTube channel where she uploaded videos on farming and animal husbandry. She launched a mobile application by 2020, and in 2021, the first Gramshree Kisan centre was inaugurated in Patna.
The first venture has now turned into a giant entity, achieving 1,000 chickens on its poultry farm, which was only 100 at first, and its dairy farm went from 2 cows to 10. Furthermore, the center has 50 goats. Gramshree Kisan is certified by the Government of India and the Government of Bihar. She initially put in Rs 27 lakh from her savings to start her venture. Her partner firm contributed another Rs 30 lakh to the venture. Apart from these, she was given Rs 10 lakh as a grant under the Bihar Startup Policy and Rs 24 lakh by the Government of India.
Aastha plans to increase Gramshree Kisan's turnover to Rs 10 crore in the future.
