Date:09/01/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/01/09/stories/2008010951310300.htm

Tamil Nadu

SHG members’ talent comes to the fore

Staff Reporter

PUDUKOTTAI: District-level competitions on elocution, singing, dance, drama and ‘kolam,’ for the women members of self-help groups were held here on Tuesday.

A large number of women from different parts of the district participated in the contest and exhibited their talent in folk dance, and staged plays centring around themes such as creating awareness among the masses about prevention of AIDS.

Inaugurating the contest, the Collector, D. Uthirakkumaran, said that the objective of the competition was to identify and nurture the talents of the rural women. A cash prize of Rs.5,000, Rs.3,000 and Rs.2,000 would be given to the first three winners in each category of the contest on January 18.

The district-level winners would enter the State-level competition to be held later, he said.

The Collector appealed to the members of the SHGs to take maximum advantage of the credit-linkage services being offered by the district administration to improve their economic status.

The Project Officer, Mahalir Thittam, M. Rajmohan said that women members of 13 SHGs participated in the ‘kolam’ competition and six SHGs in dance competition.

The District Social Welfare Officer A. Azhaguselvi was among those who spoke.