BHUBANESWAR: Even as a large number of informal workers lost their livelihoods due to the pandemic, the State government provided business worth Rs 3,583.34 crore to women self help groups (WSHGs) in the last two years.
Rising to the extraordinary challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, around nine lakh members of 83,000 SHGs did business with different departments of the State government. “The total government business through 20,449 WSHGs touched Rs 1,411.82 crore in 2019-20 thereby recording an achievement of around 141 per cent in the first year. In 2020-21, the business volume increased to Rs 2,172.02 crore and the achievement was 217 per cent. The number of WSHGs involved are 62,514,” said Mission Shakti Secretary Sujata Kartikeyan.
After the BJD returned to power for the record fifth time in 2019, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced to channelise government business worth Rs 5,000 crore through women self-help groups in five years. The achievement in the first two years is 71.67 per cent of the target.
Reviewing the Government-to-WSHGs business at a high level meeting here, Chief Secretary Suresh Mahapatra advised the Mission Shakti department to explore new areas of partnership involving more number of groups.
The suggested areas include micro food processing, primary health care, pisciculture in panchayat tanks, poultry, commercial vegetable cultivation, nursery raising in forest and environment department, plantation, millet based products, agri-entrepreneurship, supply of food items and vegetables to Ashram Vidyalayas, supervision of water supply through pipe water supply schemes and management of the nature camps.
The department was asked to hold discussions with the power distribution companies to engage more WSHGs in meter reading and bill collection. It was decided to set up a Mission Shakti Bazaar in the campus of the State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD) here to create a year round sales point for WSHG products.