Caritas India helps farmers increase livelihood

The project is running in 25 villages of five districts across Telangana.

People engaged under MGNREGA

New Delhi:  Caritas India, the social service arm of the Catholic Church, has helped marginalized families in the newly-formed Telengana state to sustain livelihood through skill development and government schemes.

Lauched in October last year, Ujwala project, a farm based rural development project supported by Misereor, has been able to bring sustainable livelihood (farm & non-farm base) to over 510 most marginalized families, which constitute 35 percent of total families targeted in a span of 30 months.

Farmers now have 25 days of work a month. Crop loans of up to 1.5 million rupees are made available and drip irrigation facility, worth 2.3 million rupees seem to have brought in new hope among some of the most marginal farmers, Caritas India said in a press statement.

The landless category of people now have taken up new trades like cycle repair shops, livestock raring and other petty shops that fetches income between one to three thousand rupees a month.

“We are happy to have brought this small but significant change in the lives of these farmers in Telangana,” said Fr. Frederick D’Souza, Executive Director of Caritas India.

“Increase in the income of these families would mean better access to health and education,” he said in the statement.

Ujwala project is running in 25 villages of five districts across Telangana, implemented by five Caritas India Member Organizations.

Source: press release