Livelihood
Livelihood promotion activities include agriculture based and non-agriculture based activities.
Under non-agriculture based livelihood promotion activities self-group help route has been adopted. A total of 61 SHGs have been formed in various villages of Lakhanpur development block of Surguja district. These SHGs are involved in regular savings and credit activities and their accounts have been opened in nearest bank branches. The SHGs are holding regular meetings.
A few SHGs have marched ahead as they are engaged in various income generation activities. Information about government welfare schemes has been repeatedly imparted to the SHGs. The SHGs have been exhorted to take benefit of government welfare schemes.
While the above SHGs have been formed with financial assistance of Zilla Panchayat, Surguja, another set of 15 SHGs have been formed in as many villages in Surguja, Jashpur and Koriya districts as a spread effect. These groups are engaged in economic activities like agarbatti (incense-stick) production, goat rearing, tailoring, manure production, etc. One of the SHGs from among these is performing so well that the bank provided a loan of Rs 2.5 lakh to it.
Workshops are regularly organised for building capacity of the groups. These workshops lay emphasis on bank linkage, inter-loaning and economic development.
While SHGs cater to women, the organisation is promoting Yuva Mandals for men. The Yuva Mandals are working on the lines of SHGs.
A vocational training centre is being run at Lakhanpur. Instructions are available in tailoring and embroidery at this centre. So far over 200 women have benefited from this centre. All the women trainees have been given certificates.
Camps are organised to train farmers in modern practices of agriculture so as to enable them to increase their yield. Local officials of Agriculture Department participate in these training programmes.