Bhubaneswar :Subhalaxmi Co-operative,one of India’s largest rural women’s co-operatives supported by Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium, launched ‘Udyogini’ project to promote entrepreneurship among rural women residing in Jharsuguda and nearby areas. Subhalaxmi Co-operative is the flagship community development initiative of Vedanta Aluminium at Jharsuguda, with over 4,100 women members in its fold. The co-op works towards theempowerment of women by enabling aspiring women entrepreneurs with micro-finance, skill development, financial literacy and market linkage, for building sustainable livelihoods.
Under the Udyogini project, the co-op aims to increase its membership base to 10,000 in a few years’ time and enhance the income of itsmembers by at least 50%.
The project was kickstarted with a two-day orientation program on Co-operative Affairs & Management for the 15 newly elected Board of Directors and other members. The program focused on promotion of entrepreneurship development and educated participants on the various facets of entrepreneurial policies, genesis, financial portfolios.
The program,organized in partnership with the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), was conducted by Santanu Mohanty, (Retd.) Senior Grade–A, Odisha Cooperative Service (OCS) Officer of the Government of Odisha (Cooperation & Agricultural Marketing Department) in the presence of Nilima Kujur, District Program Manager, Odisha Livelihood Mission, Jharsuguda,Mr. Sunil Gupta, CEO – Vedanta Ltd., Jharsuguda, and Rajkumar Pradhan, Branch Manager, IDBI Bank, Jharsuguda.
