CHENNAI: The State will be setting up 25 Mahakavi Bharathiyar Livelihood Parks for Self Help Groups across Tamil Nadu in three years. The parks are envisaged as facilitation centres for SHGs located in proximity to several households engaged in common livelihood activities. The parks will be set up on an area ranging from 25,000 sq ft to 45,000 sq ft. They will come up on government lands near major roads.
The parks should be located in areas where they could attract both customers and tourists, ideally near places of religious significance or tourist spot. They should also be well connected by roads. According to a G.O, facilities such as food courts, play area, park, gazebos, parking areas, restrooms will be created for the artisans of the production units and the visitors. There will be a road space of 20 feet across the outermost part of these parks for vehicular movement for raw material and finished good transport.
Common infrastructure facilities like pathways, drinking water facilities, toilets, drainage facilities, etc will be provided by Rural Development Department. Maintenance and renovation activities will be done by panchayats. All these facilities to be provided should be disabled-friendly.
A nominal entry fee will be collected from the visitors to the park and these parks will act both as a point of collectivism for SHG-run enterprises for the production process and as a marketing area for buyers to have hands-on experience for their purchase.
This will enable better bargaining power for producer SHG and ensure the availability of particular products throughout the year at a single point. All these activities will, in turn, lead to achieving the objective of improving the livelihood of rural people.
Funds required for construction of the building and providing basic minimum infrastructural facilities will be in convergence with Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), and other rural development schemes relevant in the creation of infrastructures. The approximate cost for the same is Rs 1.25 crore.