Kitchen gardens to come up in 390 schools at Cuttack

CUTTACK: The district administration has initiated steps for implementation of three major projects - ‘Mo Upakari Bagicha Yojana’ (my beneficial garden scheme), Perennial Fodder Cultivation (Grass Farming) and Kitchen Garden - for livelihood creation and prevention of malnutrition.

The programme will be implemented under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and the Odisha Livelihood Mission(OLM) in 14 blocks across the district to combat the long-term nutritional challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and reverse migration of labourers.

While 15,000 beneficiaries will be included in ‘Mo Upakari Bagicha Yojana’, 750 beneficiaries will involved in perennial fodder cultivation. Similarly, the administration has prepared a master plan to create kitchen gardens in 390 schools, informed district project coordinator of MGNREGA Manasi Madhual.

Under Mo Upakari Bagicha Yojana, each individual beneficiary will get 10 saplings including 3 papaya, 3 drumstick, 2 lemon and 2 banana trees beside a vegetable seeds kit for three seasons. A sum of Rs  10,729 (Rs  10,479 from MGNREGS and Rs  250 contribution from OLM) will be provided to each beneficiary to take up the Mo Upakari Bagicha Yojana.

Mo Upakari Bagicha will supplement the daily dietary requirement of a vulnerable family, including pregnant women, lactating mothers and children besides creating an open earning opportunity for beneficiaries by selling the surplus produce in the market, she said.

Similarly, around 750 beneficiaries have been identified for grass cultivation in 700 hectares of land in 14 blocks of the district. Both individual and community like Self Help Groups(SHGs) will be benefited by the scheme by taking up grass cultivation for three years.

While Rs   44,600 will be provided for cultivation of grass in 0.5 hector of land, Rs  1.2 lakh will be given for 1 hector and Rs  6 lakh will be provided towards cultivation of grass in 5 Hectors of pasture land.

It has also been decided to create kitchen gardens in 390 schools to provide nutritional food to prevent of malnutrition and anemia among the students.

An amount of Rs  35,000 will be provided to each school for creation of kitchen garden with different varieties of fruit bearing trees.