Raipur. 10 December 2020. The global epidemic corona has caused great harm to the livelihood of the people along with the economy of the country and the world. On the one hand, in the lock-down, where there is a crisis on the jobs, then even after being unlocked, people are not getting work according to their capacity. Despite all this, there are many examples among us where people have turned a disaster like corona epidemic into opportunity and have created new avenues for themselves as well as other people’s livelihood. The women of the Kankali Self Help Group, the mother of Mahuda (Ch) of Janjgir-Champa district, also found new employment opportunities amidst the lock-down and made it successful with their strong intentions and strong will. He has earned close to two lakhs of rupees two lakhs in a few months by the production of Cosafal and intercultural cultivation of Arjuna trees planted by MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) by the Silk Department.
Kankali Mahila Self Help Group of Gram Panchayat Mahuda (F), located 20 km from Janjgir-Champa District Headquarters, known for Kosay clothes, has been working for the production of crop and cocoa on Arjuna trees planted from MNREGA there since July this year. . The women of the group have received training in this work from the Silk Department under the odd circumstances of the Corona period. On the basis of his self-confidence and a month and a half of hard work and dedication, he took the production of 35 thousand kosafal as the first crop. They earned Rs 70,000 by selling them to local traders at the rate of two rupees per kosafal. She is also cultivating potato, tomato, onion, garlic, maize, moong, spinach, lalbhaji, coriander, chilli and papaya in a part of the Arjun plantation area and selling it in the nearby markets. He has earned more than one lakh rupees from this work.
Chairperson of the Sankali Self Help Group, Mrs. Shanti Bai, says that all work in the lock-down was stopped. Seeing the empty space between the Arjuna trees planted under MNREGA in the village, it was noticed that we can cultivate vegetables in it. She says that at the beginning of the Corona period, the prices of vegetables were continuously increasing due to the ban on weekly markets. In such a situation, the poor people of the village were having difficulty in buying vegetables. People got a lot of relief from the greens and vegetables produced by the group.
MNREGA became the basis of livelihood
The 25 acres of mahuda (f) in which cocafal is currently being produced were deserted and unusable four years ago. On the initiative of Gram Panchayat, the silk department planted tussar plantations under MNREGA at a cost of six lakh 66 thousand rupees. In this, 73 MNREGA job card-holding families of the village worked and planted 41 thousand saplings. In lieu of this, the workers were paid wages of more than one and a quarter to four lakh rupees. For the maintenance of the saplings planted there, the silk department approved about Rs. 11.5 lakhs from the convergence of silk development and extension scheme. In four years, Arjuna’s plants have become green trees of six to eight feet.
23 women belonging to the Sankali Self Help Group are getting employment through the production of cocoa. During the MGNREGA tusser plantation, a group of 23 women who worked and who were interested in the production of cocoa, were given 15 days of specialized training in farming. Now these women have mastered the production of cocoa and they have adopted this work as their livelihood. Along with improving the economic condition of their families, they are also contributing in strengthening the village economy.
