Cooperation dept preps research persons from SHGs to preserve fruits & vegetables

Kolkata: The state Cooperation department is preparing resource persons from Self-Help Groups, for preservation and easy processing techniques of fruits and vegetables.

Involvement of the members of Self-Help Groups will help in checking the wastage of fruits and vegetables. At the same time, the products will also become available in the off-season.

Besides checking the wastage of fruits and vegetables, it will also create job opportunities for many and even women can earn their livelihood by working from home.

M Venkateswara Rao, Add-itional Chief Secretary, Co-operation department, said: "The training programme to prepare resource persons from Self-Help Groups for preservation and easy processing techniques will start in Siliguri on July 9."

This is the first time when such an initiative has been taken up, in which there is no need for any heavy machinery to process the fruits and vegetables. Instead, members of the Self-Help Groups can do the same using simple tools and they will pick up the techniques during the training programme.

Vegetables and fruits including cauliflower, mango and jackfruit are easily available in huge quantities during their seasons. So, they can be preserved using easy techniques that can be sold during off-season. It has been assessed that it would help the Self-Help Groups make profit.

It may be mentioned that there are around 20 lakh members of the Self-Help Groups under the Cooperation department.

The initiative of preservation of fruits and vegetables by easy processing techniques

will be creating a huge scope

for employment for the members. There will also be enterprise opportunities for the members.

Eastern India Agro Cooperative Society will act as a resource organisation for the project and it would be the first batch that will undergo training in Siliguri.

With successful implementation of the project in Siliguri, the same will be brought in place in other districts in the state as well.

The top brass of the Cooperation department is also taking steps to help members of Self-Help groups take up mushroom cultivation.

This comes when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has tweeted on the International Day of Cooperatives on Friday: "Today is International Day of Cooperatives. Our government has done a lot for the rejuvenation of the cooperative sector, including giving them licence to be converted into banks, so that the banking system is spread to the remotest corners of the state."

It may be mentioned that based on the recommendations of the State Level Monitoring Committee for Cooperative Sector, the state government has also taken up a project of upgrading 2,600 Primary Agriculture Cooperative Sectors (PACS) to extend banking service to the rural populace in the state.