SHILLONG, April 5: With an aim to empower children, women and youth of Meghalaya, the Department of Science and Technology at the Centre has awarded a Rs 3.55-crore grant to the Martin Luther Christian University (MLCU) for a 3-year project titled ‘Development of a Science and Technology Innovation Hub: Utilisation and adaption of traditional knowledge, resources and technological advances in post-harvest management and nutrition’.
The project will cover over hundred villages in Umsning and Umling blocks of Ri Bhoi, benefitting thousand households through the setting up of nano-processing units in each cluster of ten villages, which will train and provide livelihoods to hundreds of unemployed women. Further, fifty village schools will have demonstration gardens for nutrition learning and supplementation.
As part of the project, a one-year training programme will also be conducted for 40 youths, helping them in the ways of self-employment.
The processing centres will use post-harvest technology for fruits and vegetables from Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, IIT Guwahati, and the Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology, Tamil Nadu, and also include the existing traditional knowledge of the communities.
The innovation hub will develop supplementary foods for infants, children and women as well as innovative solutions for processing and use of bio-waste.
