Koraput WSHGs get investors’ platform boost

“The WSHGs can identify themselves as SMEs through their self-identification on income generation,” she said.
District-level investors’ meet underway at Koraput on Tuesday | Express
District-level investors’ meet underway at Koraput on Tuesday | Express

JEYPORE: With Make in Odisha conclave a few days away, a district-level investors’ meet was organised at the Koraput municipality auditorium here on Tuesday to discuss contribution of the women self-help groups (WSHGs) towards boosting the tribal economy and potential to do so in the coming days.

Speaking on ‘SHG to SME: Invest in Her’ through the virtual mode, Mission Shakti commissioner-cum-secretary Sujata R Karthikeyan said the SHGs of the state, through their active participation in the market economy, have become a major contributor in its progress. She encouraged active participation of the SHGs in tribal areas so as to link their productivity with the SMEs.

“The WSHGs can identify themselves as SMEs through their self-identification on income generation,” she said. Koraput collector Abdaal M Akhtar further lauded the WSHGs’ contribution towards coffee and millet production in the district. “This is the right time for the self-help group members to sell their products without depending on middlemen. This will also help strengthen their economic condition,” the collector said adding, the groups should focus on improving their products’ quality for better marketing.

Sharing her experience, a WSHG member Sanjukta Muduli of Dasmantpur said her group was engaged in raising coffee saplings in the area under the support of Mission Shakti. “We were earlier struggling to market our lemongrass oil despite good production but now with help of the district administration, we are able to store and sell them at the right time and generate profit too,” said another SHG member of Bandhugaon Sukanti Kandhpan.

The event was jointly held by FICCI Ladies Organisation. Koraput has about 23,000 WSHGs with credit linkage of 122 crore with different bankers. Several investors which participated expressed their desire to help the local SHGs with market platform.

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