By Matters India Reporter
Siliguri, September 18, 2020: The social development center of Bagdogra diocese in West Bengal on September 17 launched alternative agricultural livelihood options to help people amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“At a time it is said ‘COVID-19 is going to stay’, the economy is crumbling, jobs are lost, the future of the poor is very uncertain. Seva Kendra (service center) Siliguri is taking a small initiative to create alternative, sustainable, organic and agricultural livelihood options to help people become self-reliant by attaining economic and food sovereignty,” said its director Father Felix Antony Pinto.
According to the priest, the social service center is training people to begin with model plots of dragon fruit, strawberry and mushroom cultivation with the technical support by Regi Goodwin, Father Sunil Hansda and the University of North Bengal and financial help from HOI Ltd.
The Seva Kendra staff will take the concept forward to the willing farmers of the area and thus engage them even with small landholdings and thus make a difference in the community, which should begin to happen in a short time as four to six months, explained Father Pinto.
The alternative, sustainable, organic and agricultural livelihood efforts are some ways to help migrants, daily-wage earners and people with low-income communities. Such efforts may enable them to earn their living for survival and strengthen their human capital amid the challenges they face during these trying times, he said.
Millions have lost jobs in the country and life has become full of struggles. People need to be helped and guided to face challenges, Father Pinto added.
Siliguri city, some 590 km north of Kolkata, the state capital, sits surrounded by tea estates in the foothills of the Himalayas.