Buoyed by success of fly ash brick making units run by women SHGs, govt to open more

The Panchayat and Rural Development department's plan to construct bricks from fly ash by women-run Self Help Groups has received tremendous response and the department has decided to open more such plants in the districts.

The department took the decision four years ago and the project has made hundreds of families spreading over several districts self reliant. The achievement of these SHGs will be highlighted in the two-day Rajya Panchayat Sammelan scheduled to be held at Netaji Indoor stadium on February 3 and 4. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will inaugurate the conference on February 3. Senior officials of the Panchayat and Rural development department along with the sabhadhipatis and members of different gram panchayats will attend the conference. Banerjee will award Nadia, Cooch Behar and Hooghly districts for their remarkable performance in implementing various projects.

The SHG members that are engaged to produce bricks from fly ash are either Muslims or belong to SC or ST categories. The project has been funded by Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act Scheme (MGNREGA).

Two units were opened in Bankura district two years ago. The fly ash is supplied to the plants free of cost. A machine worth anything between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 10 lakh is installed to produce the bricks. With bricks, lime is added. The plants are eco-friendly unlike other brick kilns that cause environment pollution. The Civil engineering department of Kharagpur IIT has tested the quality of these bricks and certified its strength.

The manufacturing cost of each brick is Rs 2.50. It is sold in the market for Rs 6.50 which is cheaper than the bricks produced by private players. For government construction, bricks are sold at Rs 4 per piece. The bricks are now used to set up rural roads.

Another unit will be opened in Bankura shortly. In Nadia, two units are working and there is a proposal to set up three more. In East Midnapore there are three units. In South and North 24 Parganas, two more units will be opened.

In addition to construction of bricks from fly ash, pisciculture by women run SHGs and growing of fruit orchards by the lepers in Bankura have received appreciation by the Central government.

It may be recalled that after coming to power in 2011, Mamata Banerjee gave stress on employment generation in rural areas along with improvement of roads and supply of drinking water.

The Panchayat and Rural Development department have nearly completed over 12,000 km rural roads and by March 31 it would be nearly 15,000 km since 2011. It may be recalled that between 2000 and 2010, the Left Front government had constructed 9,000 km rural road.

The Public Health Engineering department has taken up schemes that by 2020 every rural household will have piped drinking water.