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Mahatma Gandhi believed “The future of India lies in its villages”.  As per the 2011 Census, there are 6,49,481 villages in India. Around 833 million Indians, which is more than two-thirds of India’s population, reside in rural areas. Rural-urban distribution is 68.8%...

TN – RISE Women Start-up Council Inauguration report Introduction The Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project (TNRTP) Vaazhndhu Kaattuvom Project (VKP) organized a grand inaugural programme of the Tamil Nadu - Rural Incubator and Startup-Enabler ("TN-RISE”) Women...

December 5, 2023, is World Soil Day. The world joins together to commemorate "World Soil Day" on December 5th each year. In addition to environmentalists and nature lovers, farmers and rural communities also participate in this yearly festival, which aims to increase...

Rural entrepreneurs in Tamil Nadu face many business challenges especially when it comes to management, accounting, accessing formal finance and digitalisation. This is why the Vazhndhu Kattuvom Project, aided by the World Bank, has introduced a digital bookkeeping...

Mushroom’s Immense Sales Potential Mushrooms are considered exotic foods and recognized as highly nutritious while being relatively inexpensive, especially for non-meat eaters. Mushrooms offer huge potential in good value addition & sales to restaurants and even...

SUSTAINABILITY – THE NEED OF THE MOMENT Sustainability has now become a priority for people, companies, governments & nations of the world. People are realising and adopting eco-friendly practices, be it individually or in groups in the hopes of making a greener,...

The SARAS Mela The Saras Mela, a festival held annually and organized by the Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India, is an initiative to promote products of rural artisans from all over India. This year it was held from 6 to 18 September. In this Mela, the...

The World Bank, the official partner of the Vaazhndhu Kaattuvom Project, provides VKP with regular technical assistance. On September 27, a World Bank team of eight members were given an exposure visit to the Chengalpattu district to study the progress of project...

Samik Sundar Das, Vanitha Kommu, Nandhini Shanmugham Before the hills come alive with the hustle and bustle of everyday life & business, Selvakumar heads to his farms. The walk is a constant reminder of how much his once tranquil hill town of Ooty, in the South...

Disclaimer: This is not a regular Women’s Day article that celebrates the day to tell you what you already know. Rome was not built in a day. Plants do not grow in a day. And women cannot be empowered in just one day. So today, we’re here to celebrate every other day...

Identifying and Honing Their SkillsAfter 10 days of CSS training on making LED bulbs, a group of 20 members (6 male and 14 female) from Kollapathy Panchayat in Thuriyur block, Trichy district formed an enterprise group (EG) and registered it as Challenger LED Bulb. In...

Craft Is in Dying Stage With Members Moving Away: Thirteen members formed an EG in the name of their village Elavampatti, which is located in Tharamangalam block in Salem district.  They were trained together during February 2022. Five years ago, in their village most...

Aiding rural, household economy through governmental interventions is a less spoken success story. Mrs Shanthi’s journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur is a case in point. Shanthi was born to an agricultural family in Melamathur panchayat, Madurai. She obtained...

Training Phase (From Individuals to Enterprise Group) The Virutcham Banana Fibre Enterprise Group comprising 15 women is located inMelamathur Panchayat in Thirupparankundram block in Madurai district. It was formed afterthe members underwent 30 days of training under...

Prior to VKP Intervention Kathiravan is 20 years old and belongs to the Narikurava community[i]. He is from Vayalur habitation, Karanai village panchayat, Uthiramerur block, in Kanchipuram district. He has studied up to Class 10. His family consists of himself, his...

Data on ground realities is always hard to come by – no matter what the subject is. More so, when it comes to data related to livelihoods and incomes of micro-enterprises in villages. Hence, the Government of Tamil Nadu opted for immersive field visits when it wanted...