The Watershed Development Project at Sehore has been included in the list of 47 best sites by the Rajiv Gandhi Mission for Watershed Management, Government of Madhya Pradesh
The linkage of ITC’s Women’s Empowerment Programme to ITC’s Agarbattis Business with the brand Mangaldeep is yet another unique example of livelihood creation through competitive value chains. Rural women have been trained to roll agarbattis which are sourced by the Company’s Agarbattis Business, thereby empowering women with a stable source of income. Through ITC’s Women’s Empowerment Programme, nearly 40,000 women todate have been gainfully employed either through micro-enterprises or assisted with loans to pursue income generating activities.
Natural Resource Management
Promoting sustainable agricultural practices through Soil and Moisture Conservation Projects in acute moisture stressed areas, ITC has created large scale watershed development projects covering nearly 90,000 hectares including through public-private-people partnerships in several States. In situ moisture conservation and water harvesting protects crops from seasonal uncertainties and enhances farm productivity. It has a strong gender dimension too since it reduces the drudgery of women by reducing their burden of carrying water over long distances significantly.
Creating Off Farm Livelihood Opportunities
Livestock Development
The Programme for genetic improvements of cattle through artificial insemination to produce high-yielding crossbred progeny has been given special emphasis because it reaches out to the most impoverished and has the potential to enable them to live with social and economic dignity. 83 new Cattle Development Centres were established during the year, taking the total to 293 centres, which have provided 8.07 lakh artificial inseminations todate. Taking the next step in the development of a viable livestock economy, Dairy Development in Munger was a major focus area this year. Farmers from 60 villages were mobilised for milk procurement on 3 milk routes.
Providing Supplementary Education and Skills Development
Over 19,000 new students were covered through Supplementary Learning Centres and Anganwadis this year. Of these, 952 first generation learners were enrolled into formal schools for the first time in their lives. 919 youth were covered this year by the skills development initiative with the objective of expanding an employable workforce.
