Bonus for cooperative societies’ employees

Bonus for cooperative societies’ employees

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: Employees of the Tamilnadu Co-operative Milk Producers’ Federation (Aavin), Arasu Rubber Corporation (ARC) and Tamil Nadu Tea Plantation Corporation (TANTEA) will receive a bonus of 8.33 per cent and ex gratia of 11.67 per cent for 2008-2009.

The government order, issued on Friday, will benefit 6,757 Aavin, 1,806 ARC and 9036 TANTEA employees.

Besides, 160 ARC employees, 358 TANTEA employees and Tamil Nadu Forest Plantation Corporation receive a bonus of 8.33 per cent and ex-gratia of 1.67 per cent for the year 2008-2009. This order will benefit 11,815 employees working in the above said corporations to the extent of Rs.8.25 crore.

The employees of co-operative societies will receive a bonus of 8.33 per cent and ex-gratia of 1.67 per cent. However, employees of profit making co-operative societies will receive a bonus of 8.33 per cent and ex-gratia of 11.67 per cent, subject to a ceiling of Rs.8,400.

The order will benefit about 67,000 employees, according to a press release.

Chewang Norphel
Chewang Norphel, 62, of Leh, Ladakh, makes zings and artificial glaciers.

Norphel says, "I realised that all the problems in the region were related to water. In most areas. It was scarce. In others it was being wasted."

In Ladakh, the annual average rainfall is 50 mm. The only source of water are glaciers, which melt in summer. This water reaches the villages late in the season. The locals manage this water carefully and store it for the year.
Norphel proposes that artificial glaciers be built as a substitute for dams. He believes that dams are an enormous financial burden and they bring about environmental and social hazards. Artificial glaciers are easy to build. First, Norphel channelises glacier water into a depression lying in the shadow area of a mountain, hidden from sunlight. He places half-inch-wide iron pipes at the edge of the depression. As the water keeps collecting in the pipes, it freezes. As more water seeps in, it pushes out the frozen blocks, and in turn, itself gets frozen. This keeps happening in a continuos cycle, and these frozen blocks create a clean, artificial glacier. Norphel has made four such glaciers.

In 1996, a year after retirement, Norphel joined the Leh Nutrition Project, a non-governmental organisation, as project manager for watershed development.

Devendra
Devendra, who is in his 60s, is the president of the Kedar Village Tank Farmers Society in Tamil Nadu. The society was formed in 1989 and there are around 217 members working with it from 13 different communities. The society operates and irrigates an area of approximately 119 hectares. The Centre for Water Resources, Anna University, gave the society Rs 27.6 lakh for research in 1990. After forming the society, they collected Rs 40,000 as seed money and the government also pitched in with a grant of Rs 50,000 for the work. The society designed the structures themselves and constructed a 1.5 km long road all along the canal to maintain it and also to mobilise their vehicles and machines for their fields. This reduced the cost of transportation and the villagers could save 50 per cent of the cost of harvesting. Initially, the society collected money from the villagers. Then the Irrigation Management Training Institute, Trichi, gave them a generous grant, which the society has kept in a fixed deposit and the interest on it is used for maintenance purposes, which comes to about Rs 30,000 a year.

Devendra says, "Before the intervention of the society, small farmers did not get water because big land owners took a long time to irrigate their land. The society intervened and constructed an earthen sub-channel so that the water reaches both the small and big landowners."

Initially, the society did face difficulties. Water channels were being damaged. This was checked by the active cooperation of local people who fixed a fine of Rs 100 for such irresponsible acts.

People reported an increase in the productivity of their lands due to the availability of water even during the drought period. This has drastically changed their economic status.

Hardevsingh B Jadeja

Jadeja, the former head (sarpanch) of the village council of Raj-Samadhiyala village in Rajkot, transformed the socio-economic status of his village by implementing water harvesting projects. He is now the taluka pradhan, looking after 93 villages. A post-graduate in English Literature, he had organised the people in his village to take up 12 watershed management projects. He also initiated the drive to plant trees. Today the village is one of the most prosperous in the area boasting over 3 crores in earnings and cultivating two crops despite the drought situation. The once-water starved village no longer faces drinking water scarcity thanks to his efforts.

For details:
Harshdevsingh B Jadeja
Vill. Raj-Samadhiyala
Dist Rajkot
Ph: 9825075246, 0281-285246

Mansukh Bhai Suvagia, Saurashtra, Gujarat

Concerned over the water level in the region of Saurashtra, which had receeded from 15 m in 1990 to 120-210 metres in 1998, Mansukh Bhai Suvagia, a 37-year-old government servant decided to initiate steps to tackle the problem. With the help of villagers, he launched a Lok Fund scheme and collected more than Rs 1 lakh to build 17 check dams in the area. "These are the cheapest check dams in the whole country," says Suvagia.

Well-planned locations and building according to the requirements were the two main reasons for the low cost of construction. Cost was further reduced as the villagers built the dams themselves.

Suvagia's wife Rasila helped him out in his work by mobilising the village women to get involved in the building of the dams. Four dams have been built in the area with the help of local women.

At present, in over 100 villages of the Saurashtra region, money is being raised to build dams. The amount of money collected ranges from Rs 1-5 lakh. Jamka village in Junagadh district is successfully carrying out the work of building check dams. The village is 1,011.7 hectares in area with a population of 3,000 and the area under cultivation is 809.4 hectares. Even though the area has one river and four rivulets, the water supply is inadequate. Moreover, with 1,200 bore wells the water level has gone down to 200 metres in the last 15 years. The villagers started constructing the dams in 1999 and so far, 51 check dams and two ponds have been built to harvest water. As a result, the water situation has improved and the farmers are able to cultivate kharif and rabi crops even during drought conditions. Mansukhbhai projects the profit as around Rs 3 crore in the years of good rainfall. This includes money from agriculture, livestock and trees used for afforestation. "It puts the government in a very bad light," says Suvagia. He is all set to spread the message to the rest of Saurashtra and has already created awareness in about 500 villages. He feels that CSE is doing a good job of spreading the message of self- help to other parts of the country.