Kanyashree beneficiaries to bake their way to self-reliance

Kolkata: This Christmas is going to be different for the beneficiaries of Kanyashree Prakalpa in East Burdwan because the district authorities have taken up a unique project to help them undertake a training programme on how to make cakes and bakery items that they can easily take up as their profession to become self-reliant and independent.

The project "The Great EsCake" has been mooted with an idea that the Kanyashree Prakalpa beneficiaries, who have already received the one time grant of Rs 25,000, may use it to start their own project by learning the techniques to become self-reliant.

After completing such training programmes, the district authorities will assist them with financial support to start their own business and it is up to them whether they want to invest the one time grant that they are getting out of the Kanyashree Prakalpa. Later, they can also provide similar training to others. Anurag Srivastav, District Magistrate, said: "There will be a training programme on December 21 where the girls will learn how to make cakes and other bakery items." It is learnt that initially there will be around 30 to 40 girls who will be undergoing training and later the number will be increased depending on the response. The training will be provided by professional bakers and the training programme will take place at Haatgobinda Bhupendranath Dutta Smriti Mahavidyalaya.

The Kanyashree Prakalpa was the brainchild of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, which was introduced to check child marriage and reduce dropout rates in schools. Bengal has received the first prize at United Nations Public Service Award for Asia Pacific in Netherlands for the project.

After the project become successful in checking child marriage and dropout rate in schools, it is held as a boon for the girls passing Higher Secondary examination as they are having a huge support to at least dream of becoming independent. There are different schemes of the state government to help young girls become entrepreneurs. So, the project has been named "The Great EsCake" as it will act as a platform helping the girls to achieve their goals of becoming successful and self-sufficient. The district authorities have decided to organise the programme to provide training on making cakes as lesser amount of capital is needed to start such business. Moreover, according to the district authorities such training programmes will help in developing interest among girls to become self-sustaining.