ABOUT SSM SELF HELP GROUP

Sada Shiv Modern (SSM) Self Help Group, founded by Smt. Veena Sharma at Ramgarh Sikri Village, Talwara Tehsil, Hoshiarpur District, Punjab in the year 2003. SSM is a Self Help Group (SHG) focused towards empowerment of women by establishing several self-employment opportunities for them. The main objective of our group, which began with over 10 women initially, was to help make other women self-sufficient and improve their social standing. SSM’s area of specialization is processing naturally-grown fruits, vegetables and herbs using a modern and hygienic plant.

The first product that our group came up with was the detergent surf, which was produced and sold in the local market from 2003 to 2005. At this moment, the women workforce associated with SSM Self Help Group is actively involved in into food processing.

About KAFRO: With the active assistance of Punjab Government, Kandi Area Fruit And Herbal Society (KAFRO) was formed in the year 2012, with Smt. Veena Sharma being its first president and continues to hold the same position till now. The plant became operational in May 2015. KAFRO Society has established 7 collection centers by forming a cluster of other SHG’s in two blocks namely Talwara and Hajipur (Hoshiarpur, Punjab) that help our society KAFRO by providing raw materials. Out of 29 SHG’s that are associated with KAFRO, 26 are entirely women SHG’s with over 300 women members. We at KAFRO are actively involved towards women empowerment and had organized “Women Farmer Fair” (Kisan Bibian da Mela) in the village Ramgarh Sikri, Punjab wherein more than 500 women farmers from various areas of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi had participated.

HIGHLIGHTS - SSM SELF HELP GROUP

FOUNDER & TEAM

- Veena Sharma
with more than 12 years of experience
- A Team of Over 300 Women Workers

ASSOCIATIONS

Three farmers societies
and 21 SHG’s

AREA OF SPECIALISATION

Food Processing
(Making Pickles, Murabbas, Marmalades, Squashes, Gels & Shampoo etc.)

OBJECTIVE

Help women become self-sufficient
& improve their quality of life

awards and accolades

2010

1st prize,

January 2010, State level Citrus Show, Hoshiarpur
2010

1st prize,

October 2010, District level function by state bank of India, Hoshiarpur
2011

1st prize,

May 2011, Kisan Mela by Department of Agriculture, Hoshiarpur
2011

1st prize,

September 2011, Kisan Mela by Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), PAU, Bullowal Saunkhri
2011

2nd prize,

Kisan Mela PAU, Ludhiana
2011

2nd prize,

October 2011, Pariwar Kalyan Swasth Mela at Hariana, Hoshiarpur
2012

1st prize,

February 2012, State Level Sericulture Seminar at Village Bringali, Block Talwara, Dist- Hoshiarpur
2012

1st prize,

March 2012, Kisan Mela organized by Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) PAU, Bullowal Saunkhri
2012

1st prize,

March 2012, Delhi Heart INA Market, the national exhibition of forest based products.
2012

1st prize,

November 2012, State level national agency, Department of Soil and Water Conservation, Chandigarh

State Award

at Gurunanak Stadium Ludhiana from CM Punjab, Mr. Prakash Singh Badal

OUR SUCCESS STORY

TRAINING:

Our group the agriculture department for specialized training for processing the food material. The department arranged the inter-state training for the group members from 23-02-2010 to 27-02-2010 at Doctor Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan (H.P.) under the ATMA scheme.

This training helped us a lot in the betterment of our work, improving the quality of our processed items and ultimately making more profit. Additionally, our members have also taken training from PAU Ludhiana; UNATI industry, Talwara; and Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Gurdaspur.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

Inspired by the dedication of our group, honourable CM of Punjab personally visited our premises on 26th July, 2012 and upgraded it to a society named “Kandi Area Fruits And Herbal Processing Society” Ramgarh Sikri. A unit having the capacity to process 300 kg per day naturally grown fruits and herbs in Kandi area was setup.

Our society is likely to be commissioned within a short time, which will definitely increase the employment opportunities for rural Punjab.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

Additionally, under the guidance of honourable CM of Punjab, Mandi board is putting in the efforts under AGRIMART scheme for the marketing of processed material and as a part of this scheme KAFRO is declared as the main agency for marketing, wherein 3 farmers societies and 21 SHG’s will be associated to serve this purpose.

This is a revolutionary step for the development of this area while also using the naturally grown herbs and fruits, which is currently being wasted.

INTEGRATED APPROACH:

As the group started, we under the proper guidance of Veena Sharma prepared washing powder, toilet cleaner, phenyl, leesapol but due to problem of marketing and higher cost of preparation the performance was not satisfactory. Then we decided to raise a loan of Rs. 1.5 lakh from the bank. In 2007, we started processing locally available food material. Again, as a result of the marketing problem, we got in touch with the nearby commercial food processing industries. We started the processing work for these industries on labour rates in addition to the processing done by our SHG. In 2008, we took a 2 kanal land on lease from panchayat, constructed building and installed the required machinery with the help of Rs 4.5 lakh from Horticulture Department under RSVY scheme. The president also contributed Rs. 50,000 to the project work. From that time till today, there is no looking back.

Contact SSM Self Help Group

Address: VPO-Ramgarh Sikri , Block- Talwara, Tehsil- Mukerian, District-Hoshiarpur, Punjab

Phone: 01883-232101

Email: [email protected]