Goa's Swayampurna Scheme: Reviving Surla Village Amidst Economic Challenges

The 2012 mining ban in Goa brought economic hardships to Surla village, especially impacting women. The state government's Swayampurna Goa scheme, launched in 2020, aimed to make villages self-reliant, revitalizing agriculture and promoting micro-businesses. Key initiatives include handloom weaving and water harvesting, significantly improving the village's economy.

When a mining ban was imposed in Goa in 2012, the women in Surla village in Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's Sanquelim assembly constituency were the first to feel its economic impact. Surrounded by iron ore mines, the village with a population of about 4,000 saw its men become jobless after the ban, facing hardships until the Swayampurna Goa scheme was launched in 2020, triggering an agricultural and micro-business revolution aimed at making villages self-reliant.

Former sarpanch Vishranti Surlakar spearheaded awareness among the village women, bringing them together to start a handloom center for weaving traditional 'Kunbi sarees.' Subraj Kanekar, the Swayampurna Mitra for Surla, secured an abandoned school building for the project in 2020 and arranged for the necessary machines.

The revival of five square kilometres of paddy fields and water table management facilitated successful farming ventures. Farmer Vishnu Natekar's cashew plantation became a water harvesting experiment site, and the scheme extended to pearl farming by Santosh Maulingkar, further boosting the village's economic stability.

(With inputs from agencies.)