During the 3 days of Ratan’s stay, we visited the sites of several NGOs, namely Gram Samriddhi Foundation, Mukti and Rural Healthcare Center. We saw Biogas (goborgas) implementations and fruit tree plantations at Karanjali village in Kulpi under the aegis of Gram Samriddhi Abhiyan. Farmers have been trained on the methodology whereby several non-milking cows at each household can produce enough ‘gobar’ for biogas generation to meet the monthly requirement of the family, thereby saving forests from firewood, saving on LPG and parallelly obtaining organic fertilizer from the slurry. The fruit tree plantations increase the farmers’ income and reduce soil erosion and global warming. We got first-hand knowledge of the various initiatives implemented at Mukti in Sundarbans including organic farming and training of farmers, kitchen gardening, vermiculture (artificial rearing or cultivation of earthworms), employing women workers for farming whereby their monthly dry food supply is provided, beautification of the Sundarbans area, and empowerment of women. Overall, we observed a sustainable agricultural movement with farmers suitably trained in farming skills, saw rows of fruit trees nourished by vermicompost, kitchen gardens in individual households, Mukti Green, a community business unit linking the farmers with the market, and Mukti Fresh, a community business unit serving customers daily in an online mode. 

We visited a nursery nurturing low-cost flower plants delivered to customers through Mukti Green, mangrove plantations for a climate-resilient river embankment, dragon fruit plantations, cyclone-tolerant houses, streetlights, and drinking water set up by Mukti. We also visited the Rural Healthcare Foundation in Sitapur, Hooghly where patients are treated at a nominal cost and free medicine under the sponsorship of Kolkata Foundation. We discussed the usage of some low-cost medical devices developed by Prof. Suman Chakraborty of IIT Kharagpur for the masses. After discussions, the center decided to start on a pilot for 3 months and then take it to their other centers based on the results.

Overall, it was three days of intense learning and enrichment where we identified multiple areas of common interest. The aim is now to take some of the proven solutions, developed by WGF, to be implemented for scale-up and expansion to other centers for the greater good.