Bhubaneswar: In yet another example of women empowerment in Odisha, members of Self Help Groups have started procuring paddy from farmers directly in different places of the state. The SHGs under the ambit of Mission Shakti, are successfully procuring paddy from the farmers and strengthening the economic backbone of not only their families but also of the society at large.
With the SHGs putting up paddy procurement centers at the convenient places within reachable distance to farmers and farmland, this has come as a blessing for both the sellers and the SHGs.
The farmers are also happy with the women SHGs as there are minimal incidents of delay and rejection of paddy. Also, they could save on the transport costs they would have borne to send the paddy to bigger mandis.
In Subernapur district, SHG groups have opened about fourteen paddy procurement Mandis and about 150 members of the SHGs have been engaged. With the proactive help from Mission Shakti officials, SHG members have made all arrangements for purchase of paddy and it has been appreciated by the farmers.
Starting from checking the documents to scanning the iris and Adhaar cards, the women members are doing all the required paper work in the Mandis. They are also weighing the paddy bags and checking the moisture content to ascertain the quality of the product. The SHG groups get a commission of about 31 rupees per quintal of paddy purchased from the farmers.
Commenting on the success of women SHG groups, Collector Monisha Banerjee says we are giving priority to the members of the SGH groups and the administration will help them to increase their income. We are also helping them to engage in ore income generating activities. We have given them training on paddy procurement and they have successfully doing the activities.
The Chief Minister himself had appreciated the initiative by the Mission Shakti SHG groups. In a tweet, Naveen said “Happy to see trained Mission Shakti SHGs managing the end-to-end paddy procurement including verification of farmers’ details using iris scan & transparent feeding of data online. Roping in of women SHGs creates new avenues of work for them & ensures right price for farmers.
Happy to see trained @mission_shakti SHGs managing the end-to-end paddy procurement including verification of farmers’ details using iris scan & transparent feeding of data online. Roping in of women SHGs creates new avenues of work for them & ensures right price for farmers. #5T pic.twitter.com/2qimr01wme
— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) December 2, 2019
This initiative of the Directorate of Mission Shakti has the potential to become an important mode of income generation for the members. A proactive leadership from Mission Shakti Director Sujata Karthikeyan has made it a successful endeavor.
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