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Women Welfare / Development

A platform for SHGs to market their products

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The Hindu                      26.02.2013

A platform for SHGs to market their products

Under one roof:Visitors taking a look at the products displayed by Self-Help Groups at an exhibition in Erode on Monday.— PHOTO: M.GOVARTHAN
Under one roof:Visitors taking a look at the products displayed by Self-Help Groups at an exhibition in Erode on Monday.— PHOTO: M.GOVARTHA.

A 11-day exhibition-cum-sale of items made by Self-Help Groups from eight districts in the State began on the VOC Park grounds here on Monday.

More than 100 SHGs from Erode, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Tirupur, Salem and Namakkal districts are participating in the exhibition. The groups have displayed an array of products including toys, processed food items, handicrafts, sweets, jewellery, bangles, paper bags, hand-stitched clothes, herbal remedies, food products, cosmetics, clothes and bed spreads in 105 stalls.

Inaugurating the exhibition, District Collector V.K. Shanmugam said the Tamil Nadu Corporation for the Development of Women had organised the exhibition to facilitate SHGs to market their products and generate marketing leads.

He appealed to people in the district to extend their support to SHG members as a majority of them were coming from the below poverty line families.

Mr. Shanmugam also called upon the SHG members to put in more efforts to market their products at the exhibition. The members should utilise the opportunities provided by the State government to popularise their products among people, which would help them enhance their sales.

District Rural Development Agency Project Director S. Vidhyasagar, Mahalir Thittam Project Officer P. Renuga Devi, Assistant General Manager of National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development G. Santhanam and senior officials were present during the inauguration.

Entry to the exhibition that will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day till March 7 is free.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 26 February 2013 07:20
 

Collector writes to women local body representatives

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The Hindu             23.02.2012

Collector writes to women local body representatives

Staff Reporter

Collector Anshul Mishra has written to woman local body representatives in the district asking them not to let their male family members participate in official meetings and functions instead of them.

In the letter dated February 15, Mr.Mishra said there were complaints of male relatives of elected women representatives participating in official meetings instead of women. “This is regrettable and against the Constitution of India. You should participate in official meetings of your local body, public functions and government functions in your capacity as elected local body representative instead of letting your son or husband to take your place,” Mr.Mishra said.

 

More babies being born with defects

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Deccan Chronicle      27.12.2010

More babies being born with defects

December 27th, 2010

Dec. 26: Out of every 8 million deaths recorded in India each year, four million are babies. India’s high infant mortality rate may be an embarrassment for the health ministry, but another alarming issue is the high prevalence of neural tube defects that affect the brain and spinal cord of the fetus.

In Chennai alone, around 12,000 babies are born with structural birth defects every year, according to the birth defects registry of India. Even as the government prides itself in providing free healthcare to pregnant women and giving out a pregnancy benefit of Rs 6,000, experts here say that pumping a pregnant woman with just vitamin and mineral supplements is not enough.

“Once a woman is pregnant, it is already too late to correct her deficiencies or severe anemia. The only way to prevent birth defects in babies is to treat young women at least three years before they conceive. The government should take steps to provide compulsory folic acid supplements to teenage girls,” says Dr S. Suresh, who maintains the birth defects registry of India (BDRI), which collects statistics from around 700 hospitals across the country.

According to the BDRI, the prevalence of birth abnormalities like cleft lip, cleft palate, down syndrome, autism and muscular dystrophy has not decreased in the past eight years, even as several developing nations have managed to reduce the incidence of birth defects through fortified foods.

“Secondary prevention, by means of diagnosing the defect within the first 15 weeks of pregnancy and terminating the fetus is another option. While we hold life precious, expectant parents have the right to know if their baby is going to be unhealthy and choose whether to have it or not,” adds Dr Suresh.

 


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