The Hindu : Front Page : Fisherwomen get training in making value-added products

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 27, 2006

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Fisherwomen get training in making value-added products

M. Balaganessin

An initiative to encourage SHGs to start new business ventures

PUDUKOTTAI: By introducing a new dimension of entrepreneurship, the district administration seeks to improve the living conditions of fisherfolk under the Tsunami Emergency Assistance Programme funded by the Asian Development Bank.

Fisherwomen are being trained to make value-added fish products such as pickles, cutlet, soup, and `vadagam.'

The programme began on Wednesday at Manamelkudi near here. In the first phase, select members from 10 self-help groups would be trained.

Similar programmes would be conducted in the next couple of months to motivate more SHGs to take up business ventures, according to official sources.

The trainees would impart the skills they learnt to other members, before starting a collective enterprise on their own.

The concept of value-addition to fish was new to the trainees, said T. Kuzhandaiammal, a resource person representing Women Organisation Rural Development (WORT), a non-governmental body based at Vallathirayankottai.

An animator of the `Ilan Thendral' SHG, K. Susheela, said the participants would be counselled on choosing the right enterprise.

Under the programme, each SHG is entitled to a maximum subsidy of Rs. 3 lakh.

A sum of Rs. 3 crore has been earmarked for imparting training to 100 SHGs, said Collector S.J. Chiru.

Initiatives were under way to identify markets for their products.

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