Sunderbans: All-women cafeteria in Jharkhali Wildlife Sanctuary to employ 60 villagers

Kolkata: In a bid to create employment for women in Jharkhali Wildlife Sanctuary in the Sunderbans area, the Forest department joined hands with Kolkata Society For Cultural Heritage (KSCH) to set up an all-women-run cafeteria ‘Parijayi’. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is learnt to have virtually inaugurated the café on Tuesday while present at the ceremony were Birbaha Hansda, Minister of State, Forest & Consumer Affairs of the state government, Milan Mandal, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of South 24-Parganas and Sourav Mukherjee, founder of KSCH, alongside the village women who will be managing the cafeteria. It was learnt that the ‘Parijayi’ cafeteria project will provide employment to 60 village women organised into eight Self-Help Group (SHG) clusters. It will be managed and run by them under the supervision of KSCH. Commenting on the initiative, Birbaha Hansda lauded the empowering initiative that will accelerate economic growth of the local village women.

Constructed during the financial year 2023-24 by the Directorate of Forest, South 24-Parganas, the cafeteria was entrusted to the SHG through a tender process. The cafeteria can accommodate 60 people at a time and the size of the cafeteria is approximately 3000 sqft. Prior to its transformation into a cafeteria, the space was utilised for training in ‘Patachitra’, an endeavour aimed at preserving the indigenous art form of scroll painting. However, recognising the need for adaptive solutions, the Forest department decided to repurpose the space to cater to the growing tourism in the area.

Sourav Mukherjee, KSCH founder said: “We are committed to ensuring the success of Parijayi. Beyond providing employment, we aim to create a vibrant cultural hub where tourists can savor authentic Sunderbans delicacies and purchase local treasures like forest honey and Patachitras.”