Odisha to empower tribal women through diary cooperatives

Bhubaneswar: Odisha will empower tribal women through diary cooperatives so that they get opportunities to earn more, an official said on Wednesday.

State-run dairy cooperative Orissa State Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Limited (OMFED) has received Rs.46.45 crore from the union tribal affairs ministry to implement this, OMFED chairman Bishnupada Sethi told IANS.

Tribal women play a significant role in animal husbandry. Women constitute 70 percent of the labour force in livestock farming, while dairying provides women with a regular daily income, vital to household food security and family well-being, he said.

Women are not only centrally involved in milk production, but also in collection, processing and marketing of diary products, he added.

OMFED aims to educate and empower tribal women by providing better training and facility so that they earn more through diary activities, he said.

It also has plans to establish 300 new women tribal cooperative societies by enrolling 9,000 members within three years beginning 2015-16, he said.

The fund sanctioned by the ministry will be utilised for providing training to the tribal women, setting up exclusive women milk cooperative society, and creation of necessary infrastructure, Sethi said.

Odisha has a population of 41 million and nearly 23 percent of them are tribals.