SAKSHAM

SAI launched project, SAKSHAM, among the mothers and young children of Sundarbans Gosaba & Basanti blocks.
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Objective: The objective of Saksham project is to provide nutritional and financial support for the primary growth period (of the first 10 years) of a child through their mothers.

Target beneficiaries:    ICDS (Integrated Child Development Service) identified children below 10 years with varying degrees of malnutrition and their mothers residing in Gosaba & Basanti blocks, Sundarbans.


Why Gosaba & Basanti block?:    Gosaba & Basanti are the poorest blocks not only in Sundarbans but also in the country with about 40% of its population living below the poverty line. Many families live on a very poor quality of rice and salt and may be some leaves from the trees. Hardly any other nutrition reaches them, particularly the women.

Initiatives under project SAKSHAM:

A ) Distribution of nutritious food items: The first initiative under Saksham project involves the distribution of nutritious food items like rice, lentils, and soybeans among the target beneficiaries.
The people in Sundarbans are capable of activities like agriculture and animal breeding. However they do not have the monetary resources to invest in these activities. Such activities are supported and nurtured with the ‘nutrition garden’ and ‘animal breeding’ initiatives under the Saksham project.

B ) Nutrition Garden:    It was logistically and financially difficult to deliver food items to the remote areas of Sundarbans on a regular basis. So SAI executed the idea of a ‘nutrition garden’. A ‘nutrition garden’ is an idea where the target beneficiaries are trained, over a period of a year or a year and a half, to develop their own source of nutrition. They can be trained to grow vegetables and grains according to their nutritional needs and suited to the season, preserving the seeds for the next season and using fertilizers, etc. in the small pieces of land attached to their dwellings.
Under ‘nutrition garden’, the seeds for the first season of farming are distributed by SAI. In the subsequent seasons, the beneficiaries can use the seeds preserved from the first season and also can pay back some of it to SAI so that SAI can distribute those to newer beneficiaries bringing them under the ambit of ‘nutrition garden’.
 
C ) Animal Breeding:     Under the Saksham initiative SAI is also training the target beneficiaries in breeding animals like chickens, ducks, and goats.  The eggs and milk from the animals cater to the nutritional need of the beneficiaries. Apart from this, when the animals breed, the families can earn a cash amount every time by selling them. This amounts to earnings of about Rs.1000 – Rs.1500 for a goat. This cash flow can support families in their agricultural endeavours.   
Under the ‘animal breeding’ initiative, the beneficiaries of the animal breeding initiative are liable to return a small number of newly raised animals to SAI. This enables SAI to distribute animals to a fresh batch of beneficiaries.
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D) Hygiene:    SAI has also taken an initiative of making the mothers of Basanti Block aware of healthy habits of cleanliness (like using clean water to avoid waterborne diseases, washing hands before eating and feeding the child etc.) SAI has also distributed soaps, shampoos, tooth pastes and tooth brushes among the mothers of Basanti block.