[Assam] Self-help groups in Assam transform rural economy - IANS

[Chan Mahanta]

>  >It is quite difficult to decipher from here what is
>"behind" any news item anymore.


*** 'Any more'? Come now Ram, WHEN was it reliable ?




*** I think the bigger urge is the need to feel good about India 
doing good by Assam and thus the attempt at groping at every straw 
that floats by :-).











At 11:08 PM -0500 6/2/08, Ram Sarangapani wrote:
>Hi Uttam,
>
>You are correct. It is quite difficult to decipher from here what is
>"behind" any news item anymore.
>But, we take them as they come and there aren't too many ways to cross-check
>news items.
>
>--Ram da
>
>On 6/2/08, uttam borthakur <uttamborthakur at yahoo.co.in> wrote:
>>
>>  Ram Da
>>
>>  Will it not be prudent to get all the facts together before getting
>>  euphoric? You know as well as all of us do that 'SHG' is not a magic wand.
>>  The land acquired by the SHG( the process), the initial funds raised by
>>  them( the process) may not be accessible to a poor farmer in Assam without a
>>  history like the person in question and his cohorts have. So let us not
>>  repeat the bane of being euphoric or depressed too fast. These days news
>>  reports are also not very innocuous.
>>
>>  Ram Sarangapani <assamrs at gmail.com> wrote:
>>  Now, here is some great, positive news!
>>
>>  And for those of us who see everything is wrong with Dilli, the
>>  Swarnjayanti
>>  Gram Swarozgar Yojana initiated by Dilli is doing wonders.
>>  Highlights mine.
>>
>>  --Ram
>>  ____________
>>
>>  Self-help groups in Assam transform rural economy (Feature)
>>  June 1st, 2008 - 12:59 pm ICT by admin -
>>
>>
>>
>>  By Syed Zarir Hussain
>>  Nagaon (Assam), June 1 (IANS) Karuna Kalita was once an explosives expert
>>  with the terror group United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). But he got
>>  fed
>>  up with life in the jungles and surrendered in 2003. He opted for a new
>>  life
>>  by forming a self-help group (SHG). The 36-year-old former rebel, who is a
>>  father of two, is today into mechanised farming, growing paddy in an acre
>>  of
>>  land, besides cultivating cabbage, mustard, and bhut jolokia - the hottest
>>  chilli on earth - at his native Dhing village in the central Assam district
>>  of Nagaon.
>>
>>  "I have 12 other members in my SHG and we are working hard. Last year we
>>  earned about Rs.1 million," Kalita said before he jumped into his tractor
>>  and set off for work.
>>
>>  >From former separatists to housewives to educated but unemployed youths,
>>  thousands of people in the northeastern state of Assam are pushing
>>  micro-enterprises into profitable business ventures, thereby turning around
>>  the region's rural economy.
>>
>>  There are more than 90,000 SHGs working in diverse fields in rural Assam -
>>  the whopping number being an indicator of the success of the central
>>  government-aided venture in working towards development and boosting the
>>  rural economy.
>>
>>  "Earlier, earning Rs.3,000 per month was unthinkable. But now after setting
>>  up an SHG, I and my seven friends are not only earning but also encouraging
>>  others like us to do something and earn a living," said Nandeswar Dihingia,
>>  a college dropout in Dhing.
>>
>>  *The concept of SHGs got a major impetus after New Delhi launched the
>>  Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) - a programme aimed at bringing
>>  families above the poverty line by ensuring a sustainable level of
>>  **income*
>>  * over a period of time.*
>>
>>  "The SHG scheme has led to a silent economic revolution sweeping through
>>  rural Assam. This is a good sign as people are getting involved in self-
>>  enterprise,"
>>  Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told IANS.
>>
>>  *Under the programme, SHGs can avail themselves of assistance in the form
>>  of
>>  **bank loans*
>>  *, supported by back-ended government subsidy - a group can avail itself of
>>  a government subsidy up to Rs.125,000.*
>>
>>  >From dairy to mechanised farming, weavin, poultry, food processing
>>  unitsand
>>  mushroom cultivation, people in Assam's countryside are busy setting
>  > up
>>  micro-enterprises by forming SHGs.
>>
>>  "We are now self-reliant and able to speak with our heads high," said
>>  Rupanjali Gharphulia. Rupanjali along with a dozen-odd housewives had
>>  opened
>>  a poultry farm with bank loans and is today making a substantial profit.
>>
>>  *The self-help group movement has indirectly come to perform the role of
>>  peacemaker in a state where militancy is a problem*.
>>
>>  *"One can only hope this movement indirectly helps solve the region's
>>  growing unemployment problem, which in turn could tame insurgency in the
>>  state," Assam Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Chandan Brahma
>>  said.*
>>  _______________________________________________
>>  assam mailing list
>>  assam at assamnet.org
>>  http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
>>
>>
>>
>>  Uttam Kumar Borthakur
>>
>>
>>  ---------------------------------
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