Kerala-incubated firm to aid livelihoods in Uttarakhand

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 4 (IANS) A firm incubated at Technopark here will work along with Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) to strengthen sustainable livelihoods at New Tehri and Rishikesh towns in Uttarakhand, a release said Friday.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect was inked by Rakesh Khare, chief general manager of Sewa, THDC, and K.C. Chandrashekharan Nair, chief financial officer of the Technopark Technology Business Incubator (T-TBI), the official release said.

T-TBI inked the MoU on behalf of Ideal Safety Systems, a virtually incubated company under Technopark-TBI, which is the empanelled agency of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences for the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects of the government of India.

Over 10,000 families have been displaced by the Tehri Dam in Uttarakhand, the first project of which was completed in 2006. A second part of the dam project was finished in 2012.

The displaced families have been relocated to a new place, now called New Tehri, near Rishikesh.

The flash floods of June this year in the region washed out many of these areas, and people here have been left without a source of livelihood.

To help them rebuild their lives, Technopark TBI and THDC have agreed to work as a team to rebuild Uttarakhand, empowering people at the grassroots and finding sustainable livelihood options for the rural areas.

The people living in the dam rehabilitation areas under THDC will be trained in self-employment activities such as paper carry bag manufacturing, office file manufacturing, drinking water chlorination and computer education for children.

Waste and hygiene management will also be taken up as part of the project.

"We feel privileged to be associated with this project, as it is a small step at empowering the people of Uttarakhand who are facing severe hardship after the natural calamity. We hope our small contribution will help the people of Uttarakhand rebuild their lives. We are also inspired to take these projects to other parts of India as well," Nair said.

THDC India Limited is a joint venture of the governments of India and Uttar Pradesh.

Ideal Safety Systems deals with social entrepreneurship, focused on projects helpful to the common public, especially in the areas of hygiene, healthcare, waste management and safety.