The women members have claimed that as per the direction of the Brahmagiri MLA Sanjay Das Burma the Mission Shakti programme is being carried out in the block. Besides, they also alleged that office bearers of the Odisha Livelihood Mission (OLM) were selected on the basis of party affiliation and reference of Burma.
“In Brahmagiri block, under the Odisha livelihood mission (OLM), wives and relatives of sarpanch and samiti members are selected as office bearers. Therefore, if someone wants to work in an SHG, she has to be a slave of the MLA,” alleged Sasmita Sahu, president of the Shaktirupa SHG during Mission Shakti convention on Saturday.
Some others alleged that the women SHGs are forced to work under political pressure.
“The women in the State are in distress. Whatever is happening is under pressure,” stated Nirupama Das, a resident of Brahmagiri.
On the other hand, BJP leader Aparajita Sarangi alleged that the State government had asked authorities to provide seed money to SHGs by October 15 but there has been a delay of three months. Sarangi also raised questions on the number of SHGs in the State.
Meanwhile, OPCC Chief Niranjan Patnaik said the ruling party is trying to buy votes by providing financial assistance. “CM wants to give Rs 1,500 every woman member of the SHG and is trying to garner vote with through that,” Patnaik said.
Expressing similar views, BJP leader KV Singhdeo said, “Keeping polls in mind, the Chief Minister is trying to win over women voters.”
Declining the charges, BJD spokesperson, Sameer Das, said, “Information on the government schemes is available on the website. The allegations are being made to mislead people of the state."
Despite repeated attempts, comments from the Brahmagiri MLA could not be obtained.
After getting information about the incident, police reached the spot and pacified the crowd following which the BDO was rescued.
Recently, during the PEETHA programme in Nayagarh, the Sarpanch and his supporters were allegedly assaulted by ruling-BJD workers for protesting inaction of local leaders in implementation of developmental works in the region.
In another incident, in Deogarh, villagers of Riamal had detained four government employees along with the district welfare extension officer during a PEETHA program demanding establishment of a permanent panchayat office in Nuapada.
According to sources, over hundreds of women from different self-help groups (SHGs) of the locality staged anti-liquor protest and blocked the road by burning tyres.
The members of SHGs alleged that illegal liquor business is on the rise in the area. The women resorted to the protest after no action was taken by the excise department officials or police to nab the traders involved in liquor trade in the region, informed sources.
Moreover, the members of the outfit demanded that immediate action should be taken by the district administration to prevent illicit liquor trade in the area.
The accused has been identified as Rubina Khatoon who has been booked for cheating following her arrest.
According to reports, Khatoon had taken loans to the tune of Rs 50 lakh from the self help groups under different pretexts. But, allegedly she failed to repay her loan for a protracted period following which the self help groups registered complaints against her with the local police station.
“We trusted her and gave away a huge amount of loans. But she never cared to pay back her debts even after a long time. She didn’t even pay the interest. We had no option left but to complain with the police station for getting back our hard earned money,” said Sabina Khatoon, member of a self help group in the village.
The Soro police have forwarded Rubina to a local court following her arrest, reports stated.
“Around 40 women from different self help groups of Muleswar village have complained against Rubina Khatoon for duping them of Rs 50 lakh. The accused has been arrested and forwarded to the court. Further investigation into the incident is underway,” said Soro IIC Madhumita Mohanty.
Facebook has agreed to partner with the state government to train altogether 25,000 Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and SHG entrepreneurs in by August 2018.
The government has decided to organise hands-on workshops for Micro, Small and Medium women Entrepreneurs and women SHGs on "Digital Marketing Skills" in collaboration with Facebook.
These workshops will be held at various locations including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Balasore, Berhampur, Angul, Sambalpur, Rourkela, Rayagada, Jeypore, Puri and Keonjhar.
MSME Secretary L.N. Gupta said the primary objective of these workshops is to help skill and train MSME entrepreneurs, SHGs and artisans of Odisha to go digital and grow their business by leveraging social media.
The Facebook team would teach them the digital skills for promotion of their respective products/services so as to increase reach to larger and intended customer base, he added.
Gupta stated the workshops will not only digitally empower the MSME entrepreneurs but would also offer a platform for interaction between SHGs and the existing MSME entrepreneurs.
Mission Shakti Director Sujata R. Karthikeyan said the workshops would be an important milestone in digital inclusion of the MSMEs and SHG members.
The first such hands-on workshop for MSME women entrepreneurs and women SHGs will be held on the 10th August at Bhubaneswar. The workshop is likely to be attended by more than 800 women entrepreneurs.
Rajat Arora, Policy Programs Manager, Facebook, India & South Asia said that new world skills will enable the Odisha's entrepreneurs to accelerate their business through online exposure and integration with global markets.
"Our partnership with the Government of Odisha and the launch of #SheMeansBusiness in Odisha are steady steps towards the next phase of economic growth in the state," he added.
Patnaik said the state govenrment would spend Rs 300 crore from its own resources for the development of the medical college in the tribal-dominated and mineral-rich Keonjhar district.
While addressing a women convention held as celebration of Biju Patnaik's birth centenary year, Patnaik said the WSHGs can avail loan upto Rs 3 lakh at the interest rate of only 1 per cent.
The state government's 1 per cent interest rate over loan for the WSHGs came after Patnaik's Rs 1 a kg rice and 1 percent interest education loan.
Patnaik during his visit to Jajpur highlighted the Mahanadi water dispute issue with the neighbouring Chhattishgarh and said: "No one can deny Odisha's right over Mahanadi water. We will continue fight for the rights of 4 crore Odias."
The opposition BJP, however, criticised Patnaik's statement over Mahanadi water dispute.
"The state government has no intention to resolve the Mahanadi issue and wanted to take it till the rural polls next year. Had the govenrment have any seriousness, they should have approach the court on the issue," Former minister and senior BJP leader B B Harichandan said.
Stating this here on Thursday, SBI's Managing Director (Retail & Digital Banking) P K Gupta said the bank has also provided over 8000 agri loans and more than 1300 loans to Self Help Groups (SHGs) in the cyclone-hit areas.
SBI has also restructured 200 SME and house building loans, he said adding SBI proposes to provide loans to 500 fishermen for purchasing boats and nets.
Gupta, who visited Puri which was worst affected by the cyclone on May 3, said that SBI is committed to serve the people of Odisha and will also provide 19,000 mosquito nets to district authorities for further delivery to the affected people in Puri district.
Considering huge loss of trees due to the cyclone, SBI has decided to plant 15,000 trees in the affected areas and each branch of the bank in Odisha will plant 100 trees during the monsoon, he said.
"Now it's the time to rebuild Odisha and SBI is a partner in the process," he said adding SBI with its 872 branches in Odisha has 706 branches in rural and semi urban branches.
Women of the colony attribute their success to assistance from Rourkela Municipal Corporation and Centre for Urban and Regional Excellence (CURE) India NGO.
They say that around 16 women of the colony took special skill development training in 2018 and started mushroom cultivation. Even though the starting period was very tough for them but their hard work slowly paid off as they continued to make profits.
Now, not only mushroom farming, but the women are also successfully doing horticulture and compost formation by gathering domestic wastes and the self-employment has become their biggest asset of empowerment.
“If we keep on begging, our children will too take up begging, but if we grow and become self-independent, our children will follow us,” said a resident of Leprosy Colony, Ukiya Majhi.
Expressing happiness over the development of the women of the colony, head of CURE India NGO in Rourkela, Priyanka explains, “When one provides product-based services, his/her interaction with people will automatically develop. We chose to give them mushroom farming training, so that they can interact with society and market because that way they would be able them to take their own decisions which in turn would boost their confidence of living with dignity."
“The leprosy-hit women earlier depended on begging. However, now they have taken up mushroom farming to earn livelihood. They are also doing Vermicompost, floriculture and vegetable farming which have made them financially stable,” said Nodal CEO of RMC, Soubhagyabati Sahoo.
Just like the leprosy-hit women in Rourkela, the divyang members of Disability Mission Shakti at Raisunguda village under Salepur block of Cuttack district have also found a new lease of life. Despite their disability, the specially-abled women of the village are now inspiring many with their commendable efforts in successfully earning livelihood by making candles.
Some disabled women of the village formed a self help group (SHG) ten years back to create self employment opportunities for them. Now, they are earning over Rs 5,000 by making designer and colorful candles.
“I was suffering from severe financial crunch but after joining the SHG, I have started earning and can now not only bear my own expenditure but also support my children. We earn a profit of around Rs 5,000 every month,” said a member, Rina Behera.
President of the SHG, Snehalata Satpathy said, “Most of the members of the group are financially weak and cannot even pay for the medical treatment of their children. In order to help them, I offered to give them training on preparation of candles. I bought machines and raw materials from Cuttack and imparted them the training. Since then, they are making candles and living on their own.”
Bhubaneswar: Empowerment of women has been one of the major achievements of Naveen Patnaik government. Mission Shakti, the most important initiative on this front, has become symbolic of dignity and self-reliance of the members of the fair sex.
There are around six lakh women self help groups (SHGs) in the state engaged in a number of economic activities that are not only a source of income for them but also contribute significantly to the development of the state. The SHG movement is a success story and has given women belonging to marginal and lower income groups an identity.
The popularity of these collectives can be gauged from the fact that Pramila Bisoi, a sexagenarian SHG leader from the rural belt of Ganjam, was made Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) Lok Sabha candidate from Aska by chief minister, Naveen Patnaik. The choice was significant also from the point of view that Aska had in the past been represented by chief minister himself and before him by his father, Biju Patnaik, a big advocate of women empowerment.
The government over the years has supported these women collectives in various ways. Last January Patnaik had announced interest-free loans up to Rs. 3 lakh for these groups at a convention in Puri that saw the congregation of around 50,000 women from various parts of the state.
He had also distributed financial assistance of Rs 3,000 each to six lakh WSHGs as part the state government's efforts to digitally empower women. During the "Make in Odisha" conclave held in the state last November Patnaik had promised smartphones to six lakh WSHGs.
The SHGs over the years have diversified their activities and have been working in close cooperation with the state government. The latest on this front is that they are being involved in the exercise of paddy procurement in Kalahandi on a pilot basis. Around 17 SHGs have been working in 17 panchayats of the district . Until now they have procured 2.47 lakh quintal of paddy amounting to Rs 44.15 crore, their commission in this being to the tune of Rs 77.24 lakh.
With the success of this project Women and Child development and Mission Shakti departments are likely to involve more WSHGs in paddy procurement in other districts of the state during the kharif season. This will make a significant impact on the economy of 70 lakh women members of the SHGs spread across the state.
While empowering women through these collectives the government has also reaped political benefits. It has strengthened ruling Biju Janata Dal’s vote bank with women faithfully voting for the party election after election. The government, too, realises the importance of the initiative without which a large work force would have remained confined within the four walls of their homes.
It is extremely important to ensure that women come out of their houses and contribute meaningfully to the development of the economy as well as our society. The chief minister deserves kudos for taking the initiative in this regard and if his party reaps some political benefits in the process let us not complain about it.
(DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are author’s own and have nothing to do with OTV’s charter or views. OTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
As per reports, the women had been complaining before the police and the Excise Department about rampant sale of liquor in the area for quite some time, but allegedly no steps were taken to resolve the issue. Irate over inaction, the women members of the SHG took the matter into their own hands and destroyed the liquor bottles.
On the other hand, demanding rollback of Odisha government’s decision to open more liquor shops in the State, members of Milita Odisha Nisha Nibarana Abhiyan today staged a protest at Lower PMG in Bhubaneswar.
"Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik boasts of many schemes like KALIA and PEETHA but has failed to resolve the main issue. He must take steps to shut down all the liquor shops across the State," said a protester.
In order to reduce corruption in the sale of PDS goods, subsided ration is being supplied to beneficiaries through an automated system. However, several instances coming to the fore have shown that many private dealers are not abiding by the rules.
Consider the example of one Nanda Kishore Sahoo of Mahanga area in Cuttack district who passed away in October 8, 2019. Though it’s been over eight months since his death, PDS rice is being still issued in his name. On the other hand, Sahoo’s family members feigned ignorance over the matter.
Sonalisa Sahoo, daughter of deceased Nanda Kishore alleged, “I had already produced the death certificate of my father. We are not taking the ration in his name since the last six to seven months. I do not know who is taking the ration in his name.”
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Akshaya Patra of Badiamal and Biswa Ranjan Sahoo of Gulnagar in Kendrapara district is among the 213 private dealers in the district whose licenses have been cancelled by the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department over charges of misappropriation and corruption of PDS items.
Meanwhile, refuting the allegations, Patra said, “The concerned officials are asking us the percentage of last seven months but I assure no irregularities were done in the distribution of PDS goods during this time period. But our licenses were cancelled.”
The Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department in a recent letter to all the collectors revealed during the last seven months of PDS distribution, the electronic transaction records maintained through e-POS, the concerned authorities found 2,593 private FPS dealers, in automated or authenticated transaction, is not satisfactory. Therefore, the department has cancelled their license and asked to take steps for the appointment of eligible women SHGs as FPS dealers.
In this regard, the directorate of Mission Shakti Sujata T, Karthikeyan in a letter to 25 district Collectors has explained the guidelines to be adhered to in the selection and functioning of SHGs as FPS dealer under the PDS. The Directorate has also asked to complete the selection process by March 27.
As per the Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare Department data, there are a total of 12,611 dealers across the State. While 6,124 are private dealers, 1,917 SHGs are engaged in the distribution of PDS goods in 4, 054 panchayats in the State.
It may be noted that the Odisha Government had issued a notification regarding the removal of private retailers and engagement of women SHGs in PDS in March 2016. However, the non-implementation of the order even after four years has been questioned by the Opposition political parties.
State BJP general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan said, “By appointing SHG or renewing the license of private dealers in March, the government has made the PDS more vulnerable to corruption. The concerned authorities should take immediate measures to streamline the entire process.”
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Former President of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) Jaydev Jena alleged, “SHGs will be appointed in papers only, the private dealers will be actually engaged in PDS distribution. As urban and panchayat elections are near, the government will be showcasing that women empowerment is their agenda to take mileage during the polls. The State government has made a proper plan to do more corruption in the PDS.”
Giving clarification, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain said, “This is the policy of the government. It is a continuous process and is being carried out in a phased manner.”
https://youtu.be/H-nUpPuWNyk
The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) had reportedly issued a notice to all SHGs to apply for the preparation and distribution of Sattu in the block. However the members of the SHGs alleged that the block administration had resorted to favouritism in allotting the job to one particular group without informing others.
“The selected group doesn’t have the necessary machines to make Sattu. Earlier the group was omitted from the selection on that basis following an investigation by the Collector. But we are surprised to find the group in the final selection list,” alleged Janhabi Patnaik, a protestor.
“We have complained about the favouritism before the block authorities, but in vain. We will continue our protest till the allocation is withdrawn,” she said.
Meanwhile, ICDs official Santishini Guru stated that the particular group has been selected in pursuance of the Collector’s order.
“We have received the complaint by the SHG groups. Our district office has ordered an investigation into the incident. We have already started the probe and will submit the report to the district office soon. The district office will take a final call on it,” said Guru.