Posts Tagged NGO
Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages committed 1 million dollars revival of Nemam Lake
Posted by ganesh in Communication, Information, Thiruvarur, Water, businesses, government, programme on April 11th, 2010
Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages today committed more than one million dollars for the revival of the 1000 acre Nemam Lake in Tiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu.
The company would partner with Tamil Nadu government and an NGO, Siruthuli for reviving the lake in a phased manner.
In the first phase, 100 acres of lake would be restored in the next three months with an outlay of 195,000 dollar to be jointly funded by Hindustan Coca-Cola and the state Government.
Revival of the lake in the first phase will create a water recharge capacity in excess of 150,000 kilo litres project to be executed by award winning NGO ‘Siruthuli’, which had restored Noyyal river in Coimbatore.
The lake revival project was launched today with the traditional ground breaking ceremony.
The restoration of the lake would immensely benefit the villagers, solely dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods.
Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi said the project would ensure better water availability for domestic and irrigation purposes in the area and would be the right model to demonstrate the virtues of public-private-people partnerships for water conservation and livelihood projects.
Consider allotting land for establishing a common collection centre to Madurai malli farmers
Posted by ganesh in Agriculture, Communication, Culture, Departments, Madurai, Public, Theni, Transport, businesses, government, programme on January 22nd, 2010
A view of a malli (jasmine) farm in Madurai district
The District Administration has agreed to positively consider allotting land for establishing a common collection centre to the farmers of Uthappanaickanur near Usilampatti block in the district who cultivate the famous ‘Madurai Malli’ (jasmine).
District Revenue Officer Dinesh Ponraj Oliver who chaired a high-power meeting recently to discuss the problems of the jasmine growers also suggested that the State Horticulture Farm at Periyakulam, Theni Distirct, may be approached to ascertain the feasibility of establishing the collection centre and also make available their expertise to the Uthappanaickanur flower growers.
R. Shankar Narayan, Assistant General Manager, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), M. Kathiresan, Deputy General Manager of Indian Bank, V. Chidambaram, Deputy Director, Agriculture Business, M. Krishnaswamy, Deputy Director, Horticulture Department, Federation of Flower
Growers of Uthappanaickanur and ARD, an NGO, were among those who took part in the meeting.
Mr. Shankar Narayan told The Hindu that around 500 small and marginal farmers are growing jasmine and other commonly-used flowers at 1,250 acres of land in the two blocks of the districts. One is Usilampatti block, in which seven panchayats are involved in this sector while the other is Chellampatti block in which two panchayats are into flower cultivation.
“As the farmers are mainly depending on Commission Agents, who pocket at least 20 per cent of their income, this meeting was held to help farmers get the full benefits of their produce,” he said.
The meeting was also intended to address another major issue of farmers which is the fluctuating prices. He said while jasmine prices sometimes went as high as Rs. 600 per kg during peak seasons or when productivity was low, it also plummetted to levels as low as Rs. 20 a kg when there was a glut in the market.
Further, proposals to grant licence in trading of fertiliser and pesticide to the farmer’s Federation were also mooted, to which the Department of Horticulture assured full support. They agreed to ensure technical guidance to the farmers in improving productivity. Mr. Shankar Narayan also suggested that the jasmine farmers be considered for drip irrigation.
The meeting decided to seek the District Collector’s approval to form a high-power committee, headed by him and comprising AGM, NABARD, Indian Bank and the Deputy Directors of Departments of Horticulture and Agriculture Business to oversee progress and achievements in this regard.
A new beginning in 2010 at the Poompuhar fishing community
Posted by ganesh in Communication, Nagapattinam, Other, Public, fishermen, programme on January 2nd, 2010
The fishing community in Poompuhar, one of the coastal districts affected by the 2004 tsunami, is now looking forward to a new beginning in 2010, thanks to the setting up of a centre to process their catch.
The question of how to help those who lost their livelihood was debated at the city-based M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) soon after the Indian Ocean tsunami hit the Tamil Nadu coast in December 2004.
With the government and non-governmental organisations (NGO) offering free houses, boats and other things, MSSRF decided to embark upon a long-term initiative to provide sustainable livelihood solutions to the Poompuhar people.
The result is the Rs.2.7 crore (Rs. 27 million) Fish for All Research and Training Centre on a two-acre plot at Poompuhar or Kaveripoompattinam, around 350 km from here.
“The centre was established with support from Jamsetji Tata Trust and the Tata Education Trust towards a holistic approach for the coastal community in the field of resource management, sustainable livelihood options,” MSSRF Senior Director Sudha Nair told IANS.
It will function as a research/training-cum- demonstration centre for strengthening and diversifying the existing livelihoods and identifying alternative livelihoods for fishing families and the coastal communities.
The 24,000-square foot centre houses two cold storage rooms, ice plants, a fish pre-processing hall conforming to HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) standards, a research laboratory, a training hall, a dormitory, a village resource centre that would give information on climate, sea wave height, potential fishing zones and other market related data.
“Fishermen can bring their catch, get it pre-processed, store it in our cold storages and sell when there is demand instead of continuing with the current practice of capture-consumption,” remarked Nair.
The pre-processing activities (cleaning, sorting, removing the scales and others) will be done by trained fisherwomen.
“The women will be trained for a week at the centre that confirms to HACCP standards thereby increasing their chances of finding a job at full-fledged processing plants,” principal coordinator Sanjeevi Raj told IANS.
“The times are difficult. I hope the training will help me increase the family’s total income,” K. Saroja, who will undergo the training, told IANS.
Though fisherwomen do most of the pre-processing activities at home they still find the training a novel experience.
“At home we use aruvamanai (a traditional Indian vegetable cutter) to cut the fish sitting on the floor. Here we use broad blade stainless steel knife standing near a table. I think the work gets done faster here,” a trainee told IANS.
“We have assisted in the formation of women self-help groups and have trained around 100 women in making value-added products like pickles, fish powder and others,” Raj said.
“Going forward there are plans to start a full-fledged processing division to carry out activities like slicing, packaging of fish to increase the catch realisation,” said Nair.
About the location, Nair said: “The fish catch volume in this region is between 8 and 10 tonnes a day. There is also about 500 hectares of shrimp farming taking place in and around Poompuhar.”
The state government will be building a mini-harbour there and a shrimp unit is being planned by a private group in Poompuhar which is expected to generate demand for the services offered by the centre.
As a part of the initiative, MSSRF has tied up with the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and has set up a college for coastal communities to offer certified short- term training courses that will enhance the skill sets of fisher men/women, fish vendors, non- traditional fishermen and others.
“The fishermen will be trained in use of technology to get market- related information, sea climate and potential catch zones. We will train them on climate resilient work culture,” V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, vice chancellor of IGNOU, told IANS.
School commissioned a sanitary napkin vending machine and an incinerator on its premises
Posted by ganesh in Departments, Education, Health, Information, Other, Tirupur, government, student on December 19th, 2009
The Jaiva Bhai Corporation Girls Higher Secondary School commissioned a sanitary napkin vending machine and an incinerator on its premises, on Friday.
School headmistress Vijaya Anandam told The Hindu that the gadgets, established with the support of Muyarchi, an NGO, at a cost of Rs. 30,000 was aimed at supplying good quality napkins at heavily subsidized rates to the students and teachers as well as to scientifically destroy the used napkins.
The Classic brand vending machines and the incinerator were developed by A.S.S. Innovative Technics Private Limited, Chennai, who had already installed similar machines in 13 other schools in Dindigul, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Kancheepuram districts, it was pointed out.
In addition to this, Ms. Anandam said that branded napkins, procured through the A.S.S. Innovative Technics Private Limited, were supplied at a low rate of Rs. 2 per piece, so that it would be affordable for students and teachers in the school.
Coins
“The users have to deposit two one rupee coins to fetch the product from the vending machine,”
Coordinated effort from departments need of the hour
The efforts to decongest are also aimed at making pavements more pedestrian-friendly. A pavement seen near Aminjikarai.
After the battering that many roads in the city took during the recent rain, relaying and repair work is being carried out in some of them. Simultaneously, an effort to decongest city traffic is being made.
These measures are being undertaken to implement some of the recommendations made by a high-powered committee set up by the Deputy Chief Minister.
An implementation committee has been set up under the Additional Commissioner of Police (Enforcement). Officials from the Chennai Corporation, Highways Department, Transport Department and Chennai City Traffic Police will inspect the structures and facilities raised in the committee report. All the departments concerned are being involved to improve coordination and action will be taken on a priority basis.
“Bus shelters on triangular junctions will be relocated, said Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Shakeel Akhter. “There must be a distance of separation of at least 50 metres between a bus shelter and a junction. Bus shelters bang opposite to each other on either side of the road have to be relocated as well.”
He added that certain roads would be made completely no parking zones. “We have also given proposals to install signals at about 30 junctions. All junctions must be signalised to improve traffic flow.”
While welcoming the move, Raj Cherubal, coordinator, City Connect, an NGO working on improving traffic and transport conditions in Chennai, said that at present 50 per cent of the road capacity is unutilised purely because of bad design.
“Apart from relocating bus shelter, a separate lane must be provided for buses just at the bus stop to improve traffic flow. For similar reasons, the geometry of important junctions can be changed a bit to include a right turn lane. All of this can be achieved by moving the median a bit at certain places,” he said.
The area traffic control and synchronised signalling proposed to come up near the upcoming Assembly complex must be extended to other important junctions to monitor traffic flow at a macro level, he added.
A senior professor at the Department of Transportation, Anna University, said measures to remove or relocate obstructions while improving carriage space would also lead to better facilities for pedestrians.
He, however, said that road planning in future must involve better engineering and be more holistic. “Space allocation for lamp posts, EB transformers and electrical posts has to be made before the road is laid. Some kind of standards has to be evolved.”
NGOs told to regularly monitor their works in Cuddalore
CUDDALORE:
Officials and non-governmental organisations should leave no stone unturned in creating awareness of the ways to combat tuberculosis, Health Minister M.R.K. Panneerselvam has said.
He was speaking at a tuberculosis awareness programme organised here on Saturday. Mr. Panneerselvam said that the NGOs who were entrusted with the task of creating awareness of major diseases should not only organise exhibitions and shows but also regularly monitor their works.
He went around an exhibition on tuberculosis awareness put up by an NGO at the Town Hall here and said that several things about the expo looked artificial, which should not be so. NGOs and officials should work with dedication to ensure that target groups received all benefits.
Mr. Panneerselvam called upon Collector P. Seetharaman and District Revenue Officer S. Natarajan to supervise the functioning of NGOs.
He issued orders for construction of 43 cluster houses to fire victims residing at places such as Nallathur, Sorathur, Kannaadi, Renganathapuram, Vanamadevi, Sathamangalam and Keezh Sengalmedu.
He also disbursed financial assistance to the tune of Rs. 1.73 crore to 1,000 beneficiaries, including Rs. 20,000 each to 436 people under the Moovalaur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Memorial Marriage Assistance Scheme and Rs. 15,200 each to 564 people under the Sivagami Ammaiyar Memorial Girl Child Protection Scheme.
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