Plant Nursery in Tiruvallur Offers Hope to Women Living with HIV/AIDS

The Tiruvallur district administration, TANSACS (the Tennessee State AIDS Control Society), the District Rural Development Agency, and the Horticulture Department have collaborated to assist the group of women in earning a living and achieving some degree of financial stability.

12 women suffering from HIV/AIDS in the Tiruvallur district receive a new hope and a means of subsistence at the Phoenix Nursery in Kadambathur where they got a job.
One of the women claims that the nursery, which received funding of Rs. 20 lakh from the power company NTECL, will provide saplings to customers who want to give plants as gifts to people at weddings and other events in colleges and other institutions. This is a good opportunity for women to earn a living and help their families financially.

The women have received instruction on how to identify plants and make panchakavya (an organic mixture) and cattle feed, both of which they will be sold at the nursery in Kadambathur, which is inside the BDO office. There will be herbal plants, tree saplings, seeds, and vegetable plant seedlings in the nursery. The women will be paid ₹350 per day and will be able to work for 240 days in a year.

The nursery, which currently houses over 2,000 plants and tree saplings supplied by the Horticulture Department, was officially opened on Thursday by District Collector Alby John Varghese. Tiruvallur district has a total of 2,100 persons living with HIV/AIDS and many of them are offered employment through the MNREGA and other schemes.

K. S. Gowrishankar, Region Program Chief, AIDS Prevention and Control Unit, said this was being carried out as a pilot project and contingent upon its prosperity, it would be executed in different locale too. The point of TANSACS is to guarantee job for those living with HIV/Helps separated from giving drugs and avoidance of its spread. For a better reach it is planning to take this nursery online as well so that more people can place orders.

Herbal plants, tree saplings, and seeds will be sold at the nursery, which is a joint venture between the district administration and other government departments.