India ties up with Japan for self-help project

Indian villages are getting a Japanese touch. The government has decided to introduce Japan's "One-Village, One-Product" programme in rural clusters in six places in the country.

This unique experiment in self-reliance is being carried out as part of a partnership among the ministries of rural development and panchayati raj, the Japanese External Trade Organisation (JETRO) and non-governmental organisations.

As part of an agreement signed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Japan last year, JETRO will be introducing attractive products from India through exhibitions in Japan, while assisting villagers here to manufacture the products according to Japanese culture and tastes.

JETRO launched the programme in India last year. The pilot project was taken up in Seoni and Chhindwara districts in Madhya Pradesh and the initial products, tailormade according to specifications provided by a JETRO expert, were exhibited in Tokyo. But the programme suffered a setback, with the villages not able to deliver the orders.

"It is the lack of capacity. The villagers who make the products must be well-trained before they can work on the project. What is needed is full government support," Osamu Watanabe, chairman and CEO, JETRO, said.

Watanabe said after the government and the local agencies identified the villages and the products the villagers could make, a JETRO expert would visit the group and assist in training and making the products suitable for Japan.

Unlike in Madhya Pradesh, the second project, taken up by the NGO Periyar PURA (Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas) in Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu, is working through five self-help groups with a strength of 100 women. These women have made samples of kitchen linen, table mats and bags based on prototypes from JETRO. The exhibition is scheduled for June in Tokyo.

"The five groups have already received Rs 5 lakh each from the Union rural development ministry," said H Parveen, secretary of the Periyar Organisation of Women Empowerment and Renaissance.

"The village producers should get the maximum benefit. Per capita income of the people involved with OVOP increased from $11,000 in 1979 to $22,800 in 2003. We want to equate the gross national product with gross national satisfaction and for this, the producers should be the beneficiaries," said Morihiko Hiramatsu, president of Oita OVOP International Exchange Promotion Committee, who conceptualised the programme.

"We need another Rs 25 lakh and are expecting assistance from banks and financial organisations. We are also forming a federation of these self-help groups and will also float a company to market and export the produce," said Parveen, who is facilitating the One Village One Product programme.

For more, visit www.oneworldonevillage.com