SHG members resent ‘slips’ for aid in Odisha

JEYPORE:  The BJD’s strategy to woo members of women self-help groups (WSHGs) in Korpaut district by distributing party slips as certificate of financial assistance to WSHGs has sparked resentment among tribal women.Expressing dissatisfaction over the issue, they demanded action against the BJD leaders and said the move is an attempt to garner support of women voters during polls.

On January 5, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced distribution of seed money of `15,000 per group to around three lakh newly-formed SHGs and to those which have not yet received the amount at Mission Shakti convention in Puri. Accordingly, the State Government had directed the District Social Welfare Office (DSWO) to provide the list of SHGs for the financial assistance. Later, the DSWO asked the Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs) of all blocks to collect  information through anganwadi centres.

A list of 11,000 SHGs was then submitted for financial support in the district and they are likely to get the funds from Mission Shakti through their respective bank accounts. But BJD leaders, led by former minister Rabi Narayan Nanda, recently organised several meetings of SHGs at different panchayats in Jeypore where they distributed party slips to them. The BJD leaders also asked the tribal women to produce party slips at the banks to get the financial assistance. Even the party leaders directed the SHG members to pledge support to the BJD in the upcoming general elections.

On  Saturday, several SHGs in Ekamba, Umuri, Ambaguda and Dhanpur panchayats were given BJD party slips. “We were invited to receive the bank cheques of seed money amounting to `15,000 at the meetings, but BJD party slips were distributed instead of the cheques,” alleged an SHG leader of Dhanpur.
Contacted, officials concerned said the financial assistance for the SHGs is yet to be released to the district. However, it would be distributed directly to SHG bank accounts and the alleged BJD slips have no relation to this, they added.

To fight plastic menace in Sambalpur
Sambalpur: With rising plastic menace here, the district administration has decided to strengthen self-help groups (SHGs) to produce alternative paper packets and bags. The administration has joined hands with ORMAS, Mission Shakti and Odisha Livelihood Mission (OLM) to extend a helping hand to SHGs for producing biodegradable products. In the initial phase, members of two SHGs - Budhima and Sathi Bajrangbali - have been trained.

The training programme will cover 100 SHGs for making paper packets and 25 SHGs for bags. Arrangements for selling these products are also being made. The Western Odisha Development Council (WODC) has been requested to provide `15 lakh towards construction of godown and `5 lakh for office construction. While paper of 140 gsm/18 bf has been brought from Delhi, adhesive from Kanpur and threads from Kolkata are being bought. At present, each member of SHG is producing around 3,000 paper packets per day.