Making a rapid stride towards achieving self-reliance and becoming economically and socially empowered, women of self-help groups in Uttar Pradesh have essayed a new success story by earning livelihood through making pickles, papads (chips), oatmeal-porridge and other healthy snacks.
Under the PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PM FME), women have been attaining self-sufficiency by making and packaging edibles like coarse cereals, sago (sabudana), kinnow, aloo bhujia and petha, thereby not only getting themselves employment but also contributing to the growth of industries in the state.
A UP government spokesman said that the PM FME scheme had provided financial, technical and business support for upgradation of existing micro food processing enterprises enabling women to transform their households into mini industries. He said the Yogi Adityanath government in UP had worked in a planned and phased manner towards achieving the goal of women empowerment through effective implementation of various women-centric schemes and policies of the Central and UP governments at the grassroots level in UP.
In UP, under the PM FME scheme, each women member of self-help groups is being given a financial aid of Rs 40,000 which they can buy machines and tools to be used in cottage industries.
Director of UP State Rural Livelihood Mission, Bhanu Chandra Goswami, said that so far over 1,863 members had been selected in the state to provide benefits of the scheme and Rs 4.75 crore had been disbursed to these women as grants to promote industries. Under the scheme, a target has been set to benefit women linked to nearly 4,000 self-help groups of the state this year. Benefits of the scheme are also being forwarded to women who are already engaged in making and packing food products by forming self-help groups.
After providing finances to women of self-help groups, they are also being trained in marketing their products and the government is also helping them sell their products through various online platforms.