Kerala   

All-women supermarkets soon

KOLLAM: Under the Tsunami Emergency Assistance Project (TEAP), the Fisheries Department has launched a scheme to open a chain of women-managed supermarkets in the State.

Sources in the department said there would be 18 such supermarkets at the rate of two in each of the nine coastal districts.

To be known as Theera Mythri Supermarket, the first supermarket under the scheme would be inaugurated in Thiruvananthapuram this month in connection with the second anniversary of the Left Democratic Front government. The rest would be opened by June end.

The supermarkets would be located at the main business areas in the respective district. Each market would have a minimum area of 1500 sq. ft and the buildings for the purpose had already been taken on rent.

Supplyco would provide the technical support to the venture. It would also be the main source of essential commodities for the markets.

The supermarket would be managed by an activity group comprising 20 women. The Fisheries Department had selected 360 women required for the purpose from the tsunami-notified wards in the coastal districts.

They were being trained at the Laabam and Supplyco outlets. Skill training would be provided at Ernakulam.

Sources said the initial outlay for each supermarket was estimated at Rs.20 lakh, of which Rs.16 lakh would be grant from the TEAP fund. A TEAP outlay of Rs.2.88 crore had been made for the purpose.

Each activity group should avail itself of a bank loan of Rs.2 lakh and make a beneficiary contribution of Rs.2 lakh, which worked out to Rs.10,000 per beneficiary.

The scheme was the first of its kind in the State.

The aim of the scheme was to provide employment for those from the tsunami-affected areas. Making a valuable contribution towards keeping prices, especially of essential commodities, under control was another objective.

These markets would function as the main marketing agents for the products manufactured by the TEAP-supported self-help groups, which had already started functioning. There were almost 1,000 such micro-enterprises in the State.

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