A Pond of Hope: Jangalmahal, Purulia—a region where the rugged terrain of the Chota Nagpur Plateau meets the resilience of tribal life. Amidst this challenging backdrop, a Govindpur Primary School in Manbazar-I Block has ignited a beacon of exceptional community development. Moving beyond the confines of textbook education, the school has launched a pioneering fisheries project to secure the nutrition of its students’ mid-day meals and empower local tribal women.
Dual Objectives: Nutrition and Empowerment (A Pond of Hope)
This groundbreaking initiative aims to achieve two primary goals:
Nutritional Solution: To ensure that primary school students receive fresh and nutritious fish in their mid-day meals.
Women’s Empowerment: To create a sustainable source of income for marginalized tribal women through fish farming, thereby boosting their socio-economic status.
To bring this vision to life, Govindpur Primary School has partnered with the ‘ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute’ (ICAR-CIFRI) from Barrackpore and a private organization.
Project Blueprint and Implementation
The project revolves around the active participation of local women. A total of 48 Women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) from Pushna and Manbazar-I blocks have been integrated into this work.
Infrastructure: Fish farming is being conducted using scientific methods across 16 different water bodies, covering approximately 140 acres of water area.
Support: ICAR-CIFRI has provided crucial resources, including 1,600 kg of fish fingerlings, 16 tonnes of fish feed, boats, nets, and other essential aquaculture equipment.
Training and Skill Development: Beyond material support, the women are receiving comprehensive hands-on training in fish farming techniques, feeding, water quality testing, and pond maintenance. Regular awareness camps are also being held to foster self-reliance.
The Fusion of Nutrition and Income
A meticulous plan ensures the project’s success. According to the Headmaster of Govindpur Primary School, Amitabh Mishra, 50% of the total fish produced through this project will be supplied to local primary schools. This directly ensures that students receive the much-needed protein and nutrition in their mid-day meals, helping to bridge nutritional gaps.
Sandhyarani Tudu, Minister of State with Independent Charge for the State’s Western Region Development Department, lauded the effort, stating, “Through this work, school students will receive adequate nutrition, and the socio-economic conditions of tribal women will improve rapidly.”
A New Stream of Income: Ornamental Fish Farming
In addition to the main fisheries project, an initiative for ornamental (colourful) fish farming has been launched to provide women with a new avenue for household income. Under this scheme, FRP tanks, aerators, feed, and indigenous ornamental fish have been distributed in Govindpur. This offers women a supplementary income opportunity that they can manage from home.
Dr. Basanta Kumar Das, Director of CIFRI, underscored the project’s significance: “The main characteristic of this project is the simultaneous achievement of two goals. Involving women in fisheries not only increases their income, but this initiative will directly benefit approximately 531 economically weaker tribal families.”
This effort is expected to pave the way for a sustainable and inclusive rural transformation in Purulia.
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