A campaign for self-sufficiency

Thiruvananthapuram: What began as a service by members of

Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad

for people under

quarantine

in

Malayinkeezhu panchayat

around six months ago has now become a campaign for

self-sufficiency

.

Members of Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad at Malayinkeezhu had started an initiative ‘ikkarapacha’ in March to help people cultivating vegetables at houses to find a market for sale.

It all began with ‘aksharavathil’, a programme under which the team collected books and distributed them among people who were under quarantine.

It later extended to distribution of vegetables and groceries at houses with help of volunteers. The collective works through a WhatApp group which has 257 members, all residents and traders of Malayinkeezhu. The collective is managed by a team of parishad representatives, including Malayinkeezhu unit secretary Harikrishnan G, Nemom zone treasurer Promod, Nemom zone members Shibu and Suresh.

The idea is to promote products made in the panchayat and sell them within the panchayat itself. They collect vegetables and home-made products and post pictures on the WhatsApp group. People can order it with their location for home delivery.

“Our aim is self-sufficiency. We provide vegetables, groceries and fish on demand. We don’t charge a service fee from consumers, instead a fee is collected as transportation cost from merchants when there is bulk purchase or the merchant cannot do home delivery,” said Harikrishnan.