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The direct beneficiaries of Social Service Sericulture Project Trust (SSSPT) would be socially, economically and educationally marginalized rural people, especially women from farmer families and educated unemployed youth. They will be provided employment with regular income and training for self employment in technical career oriented courses. The indirect beneficiaries would be students, lead farmers, members of Self Help Groups (SHGs) and entrepreneurs of agro-based income-generation activities. They will be given assistance for formal education, courses in non-formal education, training in eco friendly and sustainable farming methods and water management schemes and guidance for association, micro credit and entrepreneurial activities. |
| Self Help Groups : SSSPT have formed 80 Self Help Groups of women from five Panchayat areas, namely, 1) Alamarathypatty, 2) Pillayarnatham, 3) North Panjampatty, 4) Munnilakkottai and 5) Pithalaippatty. Besides, more than 50 Sericulturists from Sanarpatty Union are to be formed into Sericultural Farmers’ Groups in due course. Each member of these SHGs saves Rs.50/- to Rs.100/- per month, according to their capacity. Once in a month, the Self Help Group meetings are conducted at their own places in the presence of SSSPT staff. The staff members narrate to the members the activities for the next month and evaluate the activities of the previous month and results. There are project coordinators, SHG coordinators and field animators under SSSPT’s pay roll to coordinate and equip the Self Help Groups. |
| Women's Federations : Two Women’s Federations are formed, namely (1) Vasantham Women’s Federation with membership of the SHGs from Alamarathupatty, Pillayarnatham and North Pajampatty, and (2) Munnilaikkottai Panchayat-Level Federation with membership of SHGs from Munnilakkottai, Ariyanallur, Pannappatty and Yesupalayam. Each member of the federations has to subscribe Rs. 20/- a month towards the savings accounts of the federation. The members can avail loan from the federation with 70% priority for self-employment or livelihood activities and 30% priority for emergency needs. The federations are governed by a managing committee, an executive committee and the General Body. The managing committee meets once in a month, the executive committee once in three months and the general body once a year. Every year, they observe the ‘International Women’s Day’ with a procession through the streets of North Panjampatty, shouting slogans on the theme of the particular year, along with the representatives from the local church, villagers, Panchayat Presidents, Block Development Officer of the Government of Tamil Nadu and the Bank Managers and celebrate the day with awareness speeches, cultural activities by the Federation members, etc. |
| Insurance Scheme to the Beneficiaries |
| Till date, more than 700 members from various Self Help Groups are enrolled and have benefited from the Tamil Nadu Government Insurance Scheme for the Construction Workers and General Workers through the Welfare of Unorganized Sector Welfare Board. |
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| Other Benefits |
| All these beneficiaries are provided free medical aid by SSSPT through authorised medical consultant at Nagapattinam. For the children of the beneficiaries, a Government approved typewriting institute is functioning in North Panjampatty for the last 11 years run by SSSPT. |
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| Exposure Tours |
| The SHG members, who are toiling every day of the year as workers and housewives without rest, are taken for an exposure tour to places of their interest free of cost by SSSPT so as to give them at least one day’s relief from tensions, obligations and hard work. These exposures are venues for their interactions, knowing each other and observing what is going on outside their places and learning from what they have seen. This year the groups were taken to Rameswaram, Dhanushkodi, Idaikattor, Kodaikanal, Vaigai Dam, Thanjavur, Poondi, Kallanai Dam, Malampuzha Dam in Kerala, Pollachi, Nagapattinam and Velankanni Shrine. |
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