Ministries at government of India are always backing tribals in different topologies to rope them in front league of the society, employs agencies and institutions to merge their paths in the highway to “All round” development of the nation.
Ministry of Tribal affairs in alike effort has made a new achievement, Ministry of tribal affairs along with Tribal Cooperative Finance Corporation Limited (TRICOR), Tribal Welfare Department of Telangana, Government of India’s Ministry of Tribal Affairs and ICRISAT’s Agribusiness and Innovation Platform (AIP), put up the first food processing unit at Untnoor which is completely owned by a group of Tribal women. This collaboration aims to strengthen and widen the scope of tribals to work and contribute in nation building.
Allola Indrakaran Reddy, Minister for Endowment, Law, Forest and Environment, Telangana, inaugurated the tribal women-run food processing unit in Utnoor on Monday. unit will supply to government nutrition programmes and anganwadis in the tribal region.
“I am delighted to inaugurate the Komaram Bheem Peanut Chikki Industries in Utnoor. This unit is a testament to Telangana government’s commitment to development and welfare of tribal populations in the State. That the unit is owned and run by women is another reason for celebration,” the Minister said
The unit will be abiding all the law made by FSSAI under its regulatory capacity, in all of the produce and machineries set up at the processing unit.
ICRISAT has trained 80 tribal women farmers from Utnoor, Eturnagaram and Bhadrachalam in Telangana to manage food processing units that are being set up in these blocks. This training put various aspects of food processing such as management, quality control, raw material handling into the ambit.
“This is a great example of the values that form the basis of ICRISAT’s work – empowering women and the less privileged. Such success is only possible through partnership, and working with the Department of Tribal Welfare has been a wonderful opportunity and their leadership is greatly appreciated,” said Dr Jacqueline d’Arros Hughes, Director General, ICRISAT.
“ICRISAT will continue to support the project towards sustainably scaling up this unique initiative to promote economic independence of tribal women and ensuring the nutritional security of their communities,” said Dr Kiran K Sharma, Deputy Director General-Research, ICRISAT.