East Jaintia Hills Deputy Commissioner, Abhilash Baranwal has said Self Help Group (SHG) will be the fulcrum of economic activities across the state.
Speaking at the first annual general meeting of the San Shnong Cluster Level Federation Multi-purpose Co-operative Society held at Dong Pyrdi Community Hall, Mukhaialon yesterday, the DC said the SHG movement is a medium which harnesses the power of the collective enterprising attitude of women thus providing them with a more productive direction.
It may be mentioned that the San Shnong Cluster Level Federation was established on December 22, 2021 with 8 VOs, 162 SHGs and altogether 1509 members under it.
Stating that it is the vision of the state government to empower SHGs to the point where in most of the initiatives in the rural areas are facilitated by leveraging on their capability he commended the cooperative society for its collaborative efforts with different government departments and assured all possible assistance to it in order to realize the dreams with which SHGs were introduced in the state.
He also spoke of the need to establish training centres for SHGs in order to further enhance their productive skills.
Meghalaya State Rural Livelihood Society Chief Operating Officer, R. Kynta in his speech dwelt at length on the SHG movement in the state and the positive impact on society. He said since the implementation of NRLM in 2014, the SHG movement in the state has grown by leaps and bounds and at present there are over 45,000 SHGs, 5500 VOs and 87 CLFs in Meghalaya.
Sein Raid Tuber President, H. Phawa stated that the SHG movement helps in facilitating employment generation at the village level and provides a platform for women to participate in community welfare programmes and activities.
During the programme, awards were also distributed to best performing VOs and SHGs under the CLF where Iakyntulang VO received the award of Best VO for 100 per cent bank linkage, the Nangkiewshaphrang VO for collaborative efforts in improving health indicators of women and children while Iaidchaphrang SHG received the award for proper maintenance of books of accounts.
Among others who spoke during the meeting include President, San Shnong CLF, B. Dkhar, Secretary, San Shnong CLF, Nadona Dkhar and Vice-President, San Shnong CLF, I. Phawa.
