Manipur: NGO turns remote village into model village

An NGO in Manipur has turned a remote village into a model one for sustenance and economic development through various programmes. This move taken up by the NGO has set a unique pathway in developing the rural areas and transforming the lives of people,

The Langei Foundation has adopted a remote village of Manipur, namely Nongpok Sanjenbam Khonou, with an aim to provide an alternative sustainable livelihood to the villagers. 32 CCTV cameras with a sound system have also been installed in and around the village premises for security purposes.

The development came in wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, under which each and every MPs and MLAs have to adopt a village with an aim to benefit people.

Telem Arunkumar, the Chief Executive Officer of Langei, also the man behind the adoption of the village, single-handedly managed and developed the village into a role model village.

Arunkumar said, "Initially, we focused on the human resources by giving skill training to the youth of the village and later we gave training on backyard poultry farming to each of the households. We also took up a project of loin-loom where we trained the women folks on indigenous weaving. With this project, lives of the villagers have simultaneously improved including the work culture."

Since the time of the project rolled-out, Langei has managed to provide jobs to all the 150 households and developed it into an economically sustainable village.

A poultry farmer from the village also said, "This is a very good initiative for people like us who cannot find jobs in the state. It has created an opportunity for us where we (villagers) can earn for sustainable livelihoods. "