Abhijit Nath, NET Correspondent, Tripura
Agartala, June 15, 2021: Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Monday unveiled processed food like jams and syrup produced by various self-help groups of Mohanbhog block at the Civil Secretariat in Agartala.

The members of the self-help groups handed over the products to the Chief Minister. While interacting with the various members of the SHGs the Deb advised them not to compromise in hygiene and quality of the products.

The members of the SHGs utilising various schemes of the central and the state govt have step foot in the processed food industry. Members of the self-help group are making jams and syrups from pineapple and bell peppers in a completely organic way under the Prime Minister’s Small Food Processing Initiative (PMFME) project. A loan of Rs 40000 as the starting capital was provided to them. The district administration of Siphajhala helped them with licensing and other necessary paperwork needed for the venture.
Among them Rita Das Sarkar and Ratnarani Das are making these products from wood apple in a modern and healthy way with training from the Food Processing Center of the Department of Horticulture and Land Conservation through Tripura Livelihood Mission. Purnima Nandi and Kalpana Nandi are making jam from queen pineapple.
Produced from locally sourced wood apple and pineapple the products do not contain any artificial colors or flavours. The profit from each of these homemade products is stipulated to be 22 per bottle.
Siddique Miah gave the popular mango variety ‘Suryadim’ to the Chief Minister. Babulal Nandi of Mohanbhog block is now a successful entrepreneur by keeping commercial bees also gifted him some honey. Both of them informed Deb that they plan to scale up their endeavours shortly.