Telangana's 'Millet Man' Lifted Thousands From Poverty

A journalism graduate who walked away from television success spent four decades creating something far more valuable: a pathway out of poverty for thousands of marginalized women in rural India.

PV Satheesh founded the Deccan Development Society in the early 1980s in Zaheerabad, a dry region of Telangana where Dalit and tribal women struggled to survive on barren land. Instead of chasing commercial crops that drained water and failed in droughts, he helped them rediscover white jowar, a hardy millet native to the region that thrived in harsh conditions.

The results transformed lives across 75 villages. Women who once faced hunger organized into cooperatives, learning to grow nutrient-rich millets that provided both income and better nutrition for their families.

Satheesh didn't stop at farming. He trained marginalized women to become filmmakers through India's first Community Media Trust, giving them cameras to tell their own stories. He launched Sangham Radio, the country's first rural community radio station run by civil society.

His advocacy work reached national policy. Through the Millet Network of India, Satheesh successfully pushed the government to include millets in the public distribution system under the 2013 National Food Security Act, ensuring millions more Indians could access these nutritious grains.

Before his rural development work, Satheesh gave young talents their first breaks in media. Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle credits him with hosting opportunities that launched his career. Satheesh also contributed to the groundbreaking 1975 SITE project that brought educational television to 2,400 villages across India.

The Ripple Effect

Satheesh's millet revival sparked similar initiatives nationwide. His model proved that sustainable agriculture could lift communities from poverty while protecting the environment. The women he trained became community leaders, and his Permaculture School continues inspiring youth with alternative education focused on solving real problems.

His work demonstrated that progress doesn't require abandoning traditional knowledge. Sometimes the seeds of change have been in the soil all along.

Satheesh passed away in March 2023 at 77, but the women-led cooperatives he built continue thriving, proving that real transformation outlasts any single lifetime.