Sir Dorabji Tata Trust signs MoU with NABARD

Odisha Channel Bureau Bhubaneswar: For the purpose of the creation of sustainable livelihood opportunities by providing easy financial access and social infrastructure in order to improve the economic condition of the rural poor in Odisha, NABARD signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sir Dorabji Tata Trust at Bhubaneswar on Friday.The MoU was signed by S.K.Kale, Chief General Manager, NABARD and R.Venkataramanan, Executive Trustee, SDTT.The MOU will cover 19 Maoists affected districts of Odisha.The programme intends to strengthen the livelihood and market linked interventions  of partner organisations primarily the NGOs (the partner organisations in turn will promote farmers producers organisations, producers’ cooperatives, self-help groups  and SHG federations and other community based institutions for sustenance of this endeavor) by providing grant support and if needed an appropriate line of credit from NABARD.The major components of collaboration include health, sanitation, safe drinking water in existing or new Wadi and watershed projects of NABARD, sharing of management cost of implementing partner organisations in projects of common interest, promotion of community based organisations, producer groups, and institution building.The projects initially considered for collaboration are promotion of diversion based irrigation projects, vegetable cultivation, Wadi Development, scaling up of system of rice intensification (SRI), system of crop intensification, seed production, aggregation of crop produce and market linkages, establishing agriculture implements bank, watershed development with improved crop production techniques, improved agriculture, poly house, and demonstration in four districts of Odisha namely Koraput, Rayagada, Kalahandi and Kandhamal with an approximate outlay of Rs.37 crore over a period of three years.Speaking on the occasion, Kale expressed hope that the collaboration with SDTT will go a long way in the comprehensive development of rural Odisha and showcase better model of integrated development through this collaborative effort to the whole country.Venkataramanan said that the Trust will put all efforts in a professional and transparent manner to develop replicable model of development in a cluster mode instead of putting efforts in sporadic manner.