Vidathandalam is a remote village in Minjur block. The village women have a tradition of rearing milch cows or buffaloes and they do not sell milk but convert the production into milk products – curd and ghee – which they market in Chennai city. On an average , each of them use 3 liters of milk to make curd. They carry the curd in vessels placed in baskets which they carry on their heads . Starting around 5 am in the morning and catch the bus which take them to Ponneri , a town about 10 km away. There they change another bus and travel another 20 km to reach Chennai borders where they sell the curd to their regular customers. While boiling the milk , they take out the cream which is converted into ghee once a week which is also sold to the same customers. By selling curd they make a daily profit of Rs 50/day. They sell curd for 20 days a month , thus making a profit of Rs1000 /month . Added to this, they get Rs 500 through ghee sales. Each earns a monthly income of Rs 1500 ( 20 pounds) per month. Some have a few cents of land for cultivation. There are two groups in the village with 37 members. Both groups have secured bank loan of Rs 15,000 each with Govt subsidy of Rs 10,000. Four women have been assisted to obtain subsidy linked loan for repairing their houses. The members have been given training Group management , primary health, and EDP and one member sent for exposure visit on marketing linkages.

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