New Delhi: As many as 2,300 women from Odisha have benefited from the Mahila Coir Yojana being implemented by the Central Government. More than Rs 3.5 crore has been spent in the state in the last ten years under this scheme.
Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma gave this information in the Rajya Sabha in response to a question by BJD MP Amar Patnaik. The Minister mentioned that the Coir Development Yojana was implemented across the country, including Odisha, to make the people especially women self-reliant through the cotton industry. The scheme has since been named Mahila Coir Yojana.
Under this scheme, Central Coir Research Institute (CCRI) at Kalavoor and Central Institute of Coir Technology (CICT) in Bengaluru have been established. Since 2015-16, its expanded regional office has been opened in Bhubaneswar. Through this, the products made from cotton are being supplied to the fields of cotton, agriculture and horticulture. The centre is assisting entrepreneurs in manufacturing of organic cotton products.
However, the Mahila Coir Yojana is being implemented to provide employment to women in a special way, through which two months of training is being provided to women artisans of the village. Apart from this, the board is offering diploma and certificate courses in the field of technology. Along with this, training and awareness programs are also being conducted in the entrepreneurship development program. The trained women are getting assistance from the Pradhan Mantri Employment Guarantee Programme (PMEGP).
However, in the last 10 years, rs 3.51 crore has been spent in the state under the Coir Development Yojana and subsequently the Mahila Coir Yojana. In 2014-15, the state spent Rs 50.53 lakh on the scheme, while in 2022-23 it was Rs 50.28 lakh. More than Rs 15 lakh has been spent till the end of November in the current financial year, the union minister said.