VIJAYAWADA: Aiming to make women self-reliant and economically empowered, Vijayawada MP Kesineni Sivanath and the NTR district administration have decided to set up Common Facility Centres (CFCs) with support from the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR).
It will support SHGs by providing common infrastructure for production, processing, quality enhancement and marketing of products. CFCs are to be set up across mandals.
Four pilot CFCs are being set up at Chillakallu, Jakkampudi, A Konduru, and Nandigama. If successful, the project will expand to 295 villages. Backed by Kesineni Foundation and NIRDPR, the centres will act as training hubs. As many as 100 people, including 30 youth from NTR district, mostly SHG members, have undergone training at NIRDPR in Hyderabad.
Speaking to TNIE, NIRDPR Manager and CFC coordinator Murali Krishna said “Kesineni Sivanath met NIRDPR Director General G Narendra in Hyderabad and discussed skill training, establishment of CFCs and related measures to help SHG women. Initially, four CFCs are being set up in NTR district. These will include solar dryers for mango and other units.”
