ADDED NUTRITION: Children at the Chinna Eekkaadu Government Hostel for Boys are seen here assisting in the unloading of vegetables on Saturday.

CHENNAI : The smiles on the faces of children in Adi Dravida and Backward Communities hostels in Tiruvallur said it all.

Increased business for farmers and fresh vegetables for students have been the results of a month-old Tiruvallur Collectorate project.

Vegetables worth more than Rs. 30,000 have been procured by the Collectorate in the first phase of its plan to directly supply hostels, anganwadis and noon-meal centres with required vegetables over the last month. Most of these have been bought from farmers at the uzhavar sandhai (Farmers' Market) at Tiruvallur.

Onion and tomato are being purchased from Koyambedu, as they are not locally grown. Greens, beans and brinjal are easily available at the Tiruvallur uzhavar sandhai.

Officials are informed early in the day of prices of vegetables at Koyambedu and select some of them directly from the wholesale market to stay within the budget of the hostels.

The plan, conceived by the District Collector, Ranvir Prasad, to provide business to the sandhai, has been implemented as a pilot project in four blocks of the district for 14 BC and Adi Dravida hostels. Sheela and Parameshwari from Vaigai Self-Help Organisation and District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) officials set out at 7 a.m. twice a week to collect five different kinds of vegetables. One kg of tomatoes and onions each are staple for each hostel, besides another three kg of other vegetables that could include potato, carrot, beetroot or chow-chow.

They said that students had expressed pleasure at the daily supply of fresh vegetables.

Previously wardens had to buy the vegetables.

Mannichi, cook at the Kakkalur Government Boys Hostel, said the new arrangement was convenient since vegetables were delivered at their doorstep.

Meetings were organised with farmers during the preliminary discussions.

Most expressed willingness to supply in bulk and preferred to dispose of their produce at one go at the wholesale market in Koyambedu, rather than spend a day at the sandhai.

Some also prefer to sell to exporters who offer more than twice the market rates.

In the next phase set for implementation in less than two weeks, the ICDS centres in the four blocks and hostels in four more blocks would be supplied vegetables.

The products of another SHG in the district would be procured for grocery requirements shortly.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail