Tata Steel provides support to Odisha SHG for poultry farming

Odisha Sun Times Bureau

Chhatrapur, Aug 24;

Recognizing the importance of women in the cooperative movement of our country and aiming to enhance their participation in income generation, thrift and leadership, Tata Steel has been supporting the women Self Help Groups (SHGs) in the peripheral villages of Gopalpur.

As a part of its endeavor, Tata Steel Rural Development Society (TSRDS), the rural development wing of Tata Steel, has provided support to the members of Om Sai Self Help Group of Ramyapalli village in Chamakhandi Gram Panchayat under Chattrapur Block through the construction of a poultry farm with a capacity of 1800 birds. The support would help in promotion of alternative livelihood and would help the members of the self-help group become self-reliant.

Dr. Priyanshu Pradhan, Hon’ble MLA, Chattrapur, inaugurated the poultry farm yesterday, in the presence of Biraja Mishra, Head of Administration, Tata Steel and Mrs. N. Bijayalaxmi Reddy, Sarpanch, Chamakhandi.

The poultry farm has been constructed on a participatory basis where the beneficiaries have contributed Rs. 12, 000 and TSRDS has contributed about Rs 8,00,000. Apart from the construction of the poultry farm, TSRDS has also ensured the market linkage for the birds by roping in Suguna Food Limited, a pioneer in poultry business, which would support the SHG members with the recurring expenses of the livelihood initiative.

The 16 women members forming the SHG believe that with Tata Steel’s support in constructing the poultry farm and the market linkage with Suguna, they will be able to achieve the target of 6 bird rearing cycles per year with an expected profit of Rs. 1,50,000/- per annum.

Praising the initiative by TSRDS, Dr. Priyanshu Pradhan, Hon’ble MLA, Chattrapur emphasized on the role of women in the building of the nation through SHGs and said that more and more women should form SHGs and take up alternative livelihood initiatives for a prosperous tomorrow.

The event organised at Ramyapalli village for handing over the poultry farm to the women SHG members was also attended  P.Lingaraj Rao, Naidu, Ramyapalli Village Committee; Sushanta Moharana, Head, Infrastructure, Tata Steel; Dr. K.K.Tripathy, Consultant, Tata Steel and Anant Singh, Specialist, TSRDS.

Biraja Mishra, Head, Administration, Tata Steel interacted with the beneficiaries belonging to the SHG on their experience and aspirations with regard to the poultry initiative. Describing this as a benchmark setting effort, the PRI members attending the event said that it would go a long way in enabling Women SHGs to achieve economic self-reliance.