Namami Gange workshop in Himachal promotes coarse grains, women's self-reliance

Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh), Aug 10 (IANS) As part of the Central government's Namami Gange Project, the Wildlife Institute of India organised a workshop in Nahan of Himachal Pradesh's Sirmaur district, aimed at making women from self-help groups aware of various food products made from coarse grains.

The Namami Gange programme, launched in 2014 as an Integrated Conservation Mission with a budget outlay of Rs 20,000 crore, seeks to rejuvenate the Ganga and its tributaries, including the Yamuna, which flows through Himachal Pradesh.

The flagship initiative of the Modi government focuses on pollution abatement, conservation, and the revival of the river system.

During the session, experts educated rural women on the nutritional and environmental benefits of coarse grains and trained them to prepare different food items from these grains.

Talking to IANS, Project Coordinator Anupama said: "The Namami Gange Project has been started by the Wildlife Institute of India, under which Ganga Praharis are being created to keep the Yamuna and Ganga clean. They are also being made aware of the consumption and uses of coarse grains through a programme called Jalaj."

"In this series, women from self-help groups in Rampur ghat have been taught to make a variety of food items using coarse grains. These women can not only use them for their own households but also become self-reliant by selling these products," she explained.

The project coordinator mentioned that the coarse grains are good for the earth and beneficial for a healthy life.

"After learning about these food items, the women were very excited and said they found the initiative extremely useful. While we should adopt coarse grains in our diet, we must also take the step to grow them through natural farming," she added.

According to her, incorporating coarse grains into daily diets can help improve health while empowering women economically through entrepreneurship.

"This is a commendable initiative that links environmental sustainability with women's self-reliance," she said.

The women attending the workshop also lauded the initiative as a step towards leading a healthy lifestyle.

A woman attending the programme told IANS, "We are extremely happy that these people are making us aware of so many things. We can lead a healthy lifestyle."

"We learned a lot here today. We also hope that these initiatives continue and we keep learning about new things," another added.

--IANS

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