About 70% people of the country live in village. A nation or a state cannot be empowered without the overall empowerment of villages. That is why the central and the state government is working towards improving quality of living of the people living in rural areas and overall development of the rural areas, enunciated Chief Minister Prof. (Dr.) Manik Saha after inaugurating an orientation programme on PRI-CBO Convergence and Village Poverty Reduction Plan (VPRP) and Credit Camp for women SHGs organized by Tripura Rural Livelihood Mission, Rural Development department, Government of Tripura at Rabindra Bhawan on Wednesday.
He said, the state government is working with priority towards improving the socio-economic condition of women. 33% reservation has been ensured for women in jobs to empower women of the state. 37 thousand 735 Self-Help Groups have been formed in the state under Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission to help women of the rural areas become financially self-dependent, to which 3 lakh 41 thousand people of the rural areas are associated. To further strengthen the SHGs, 1,668 village organizations have been formed and 41 cluster-level federations have been formed.
The Chief Minister said, the state government has started an e-commerce platform named Willmart Tripura for marketing of SHG made products of the state. Plans are there to form more 11 thousand SHGs in the financial year 2022-23 to enhance the rural economy. TRLM is working with the aim to include 1 lakh 30 thousand people of the rural areas to SHGs.
The Chief Minister said, financial assistance are being provided to SHGs through Deen Dayal Upadhyay National Rural Livelihood Mission to improve the socio-economic condition of the women in rural areas. The SHGs so far have been provided with about 302 crore rupees under Community Investment Fund and loan of about 473 crore rupees from different banks. Loan processes have also been simplified so that the SHGs could take easy loans. He said, the state government has taken different steps to enhance the quality of living of the SHG members, which includes 12 thousand women SHG members in fish production, 6 thousand women SHG members in pig rearing, 2 thousand women SHG members in poultry farming and 8 thousand women SHG members in goat rearing etc.
Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma, as the special guest in the programme said, the state government is working towards making mothers and sisters in the rural areas self-dependent.
And women run SHGs are the symbol of self-reliance and renaissance. There were only 4 thousand SHGs in the state during the reign of the previous government. About 38 thousand SHGs have been formed in the state in the period of the present government. He said, rural development requires economic development of the rural areas.
The state government is walking in that direction. The state government not only is forming SHGs but also is working to financially strengthen the SHGs. The state government is also making arrangements to market the SHG products. . Sabhadhipati of the West Tripura Zilla Parishad Antara Sarkar Deb, Principal Secretary of Rural Development department L. H. Darlong and Special Secretary Dr. Sandip R. Thakur also spoke in the programme.
Loan sanction papers worth 23 crore 55 lakh rupees through different banks were handed over to different SHGs in the Mega Loan Giving Camp held on the occasion. Job letters were also handed over to those who have already acquired training under Deen Dayal Upadhyay-Gramin Kaushal Yojana by the Chief Minister and other guests.
