PANAJI
With a significant payment of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) pending, The Goan spoke to members to understand the hardships they face and their investment in the business amid the government’s delay in clearing outstanding bills.
In South Goa, the Shree Ganesh Self-Help Group from Dicarpale village in Davorlim, run by Rekha Gunjikar cooks meals for various schools and has also hired a vehicle with a driver to deliver the food.
Gunjikar, the president of the SHG, shares that the group is around 11 years old and has been supplying mid-day meals since the scheme was launched in Goan schools.
“I buy my stock of groceries in advance and on credit. The shopkeepers’ bills are cleared when we receive our payment from the government. Thankfully, the grocer waits and does not press for the payment,” shares Gunjikar, adding that her payments from the government are pending since January this year.
Means of livelihood
“We are not being paid our dues since January 2023. The bills for January, February, March and April are already submitted. After a gap of May, we again started supplying meals from June 5 after the schools reopened. And we have been informed that our bills will only be paid in August. But we would rather wait patiently to receive our payments, than stop supplying meals, or complain,” said Gunjikar, aware that the women from her group cannot sustain if this means of livelihood is being snatched away.
Gold on the line
Gunjikar is a member of the WhatsApp group of SHGs and keeps herself updated. “Ours is a rolling business. We need constant cash to buy ingredients, pay for the transport and driver, book our LPG etc. We buy vegetables from the wholesale market. We often have to mortgage our gold ornaments to run the business. But we don’t mind paying interest once the amount is released from the government. We are content in whatever little we earn as profit,” she explained.
Influence & effluence
In the temple city of Ponda, there are around 300 self-help groups and each has at least 10-15 members. All these groups are engaged in the mid-day meal project. Some get contracts, some do not get them. Many a time the contract is bagged by influential and effluent SHGs. Effluence is a must since there is a lot of money blocking this business. Barring unforeseen situations, one has to keep enough stock in the store to last for a few days. When the payments are delayed, the SHGs have to invest their own money to keep the business running.
And it is only after five-six schools are supplied meals, that the SHG can make some profit. “Supplying to a school or two is not affordable financially, because it is only when we make meals on a large scale that we can dream of profiting. And these schools should be close to each other because to reach there on time with cooked food is important. If one school is far away than the other, the vehicle cannot reach there on time. The high prices of petrol and diesel stop us from hiring more than one vehicle,” shared an SHG member.
Machinery has to be put in place before one gets the contract - back in the kitchen, the SHGs need big utensils, LPG cylinders and stoves, helping hands, money to purchase the raw material at least a day in advance, cutting and chopping before cooking, and lastly cleaning and washing of the vessels once the meal is served. Visiting markets to buy vegetables and other raw materials the previous day, cleaning the stuff and keeping ready for the next day, is also a job that has to be done compulsorily. All this cycle has to run smoothly.
Rs 120 cr spent in last 5 years on scheme
The Goa government has spent Rs 120 crore in the last five years on the mid-day meal scheme that was initiated to provide nutritious food to the pre-primary and primary students, a report has revealed. The contract to provide mid-day meals has been given to self-help groups (SHGs), Mahila Mandals and Parent Teachers Associations (PTAs). The rate per plate per student for pre-primary students was Rs 6.11, and Rs 7.45 for primary students, which was unaffordable, claimed the self-help groups and requested to increase the rate. In November 2022, the rate was increased to Rs 8 per pre-primary student and Rs 10 for primary students.
