A Woman's Wonder in Odisha


It was just the other day that a three-day-old girl was left by her parents near our factory so we would notice her immediately,” says Prema Nalini Sahoo as she strides into the chhatua (nutritious ground cereal mix) processing unit at Panchgaon under Tigiria block of Cuttack in Odisha. “We handed her to the Child Welfare Committee. She is in care of a shelter home for now,” she adds.

A crowd begins to gather around Sahoo soon after her arrival. Sifting through piles of peanuts, roasted wheat and gram that are ready to go into the grinding unit, Sahoo spots a woman in her mid-20s standing gingerly by the door. She beckons her inside and enquires about her domestic situation. The woman was on the verge of being abandoned by her husband, but after Sahoo’s counselling, the couple has reconciled.

For Sahoo, 48, this is routine. The day starts early and runs late into the night as she juggles the affairs of four producers groups, including the chhatua processing unit, a sanitary napkin manufacturing unit and two agarbatti rolling units in the block along with playing agony aunt, mediator and crusader against social ills........click for more

 

Source: The New Indian Express

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