The term ‘Ready-to-Eat’ may immediately conjure up an image of a new product launch of a packaged food manufacturer .
However, a group of north Bastar tribal women are carrying the concept of ‘Ready-to-Eat’ food much beyond the shelves of a retail super store in a metro. The meals cooked by them are reaching hundreds of tribal children in the Anganwadi centres of Chhattisgarh’s tribal dominated Bastar region.
The women members of Ma Santoshi Self Help Group (SHG) have got together to prepare ‘Ready-to-Eat’ meals for a total of 40 Anganwadi centers Bhanupratapur and Ghonta Supervisory Sector in Chhattisgarh.
The women under State Government’s ‘Bhanupratappur project’ had also adopted five girls from poor families under Government’s Dattak Putri project to assist them pursue their education.
The 'Santoshi Maa SHG' was formed in 2001 under the ‘Swayam Siddha Yojana’ and its 14 women members are now financially self-reliant. The group members hold a meeting every month to further streamline their tasks for a better performance of the unit.
The SHG had so far taken a loan of Rs 25,000 from the ‘Chhattisgarh Mahila Kosh’ (Chhattisgarh Women Corpus) which helped the women establish the ‘Ready-to-Eat’ unit at Bhanupratappur.
Going a step further, now the SHG had applied for a Rs 50,000 loan for manufacturing turmeric and spicy condiments as well as sanitary napkins. Interestingly, the SHG members have also learnt how to save cash and also efficiently manage their financial m,transaction on their own.