TIST
CHEZHUMAI©
Tel. 044-22246844, No. 4, Lakshmi Nagar, E-Mail prabakar@tist.org November 2003 6th Main, Nanganallur, Chennai 61
TIST Small Group in Chittoor Plants 7,000 Trees!
By P.Sundaram – Member of SindhuKavi Group in Chittoor Village
Dear Fellow TIST Participants. Our Small Group belongs to Chittoor village which is in Sriperumbuthur Taluk. We were first introduced to the TIST program by our area Assistant Agricultural Officer Mr. Ranganathan. Mr. Prabakar Srinivasan (TIST Organizer) had approached us several times and reiterated to us regarding planting of trees and their benefits. Since we were actively involved in agriculture, our participation in the TIST program was getting delayed. But Prabakar remained persistent and after good consideration among group members, we formed a Small Group and began growing saplings of Eucalyptus and Teak. About 7,000 saplings have been transplanted into an area of about 2 acres and have started looking green and are growing fine. I am sure that by the month of December or January, these saplings would be rooted firmly into the ground and will grow tremendously.
Yamuna Group
By Bhakthavatchalam – Member of Yamuna Group in Chittoor Village
I sincerely convey my thanks to Asst. Agricultural Officer Mr. S. Ranganathan of our area for introducing me to the TIST Program. Mr. Prabakar of the TIST Organisation had approached me several times and requested me to start a TIST Small Group. Being a farmer, I was cultivating Jasmine in parts of my land with the available water from the borewell resource. Now, after forming the Yamuna Small Group and joining the TIST program, our group has planted Drumstick trees in an area of one Hectare. We began by growing the seedlings in a Nursery near our lands and then transplanted them to the ground during June of this year. Some of the trees have already begun yielding drumsticks and we are able to earn additional revenue by selling the drumsticks. Several other farmers who are friends of mine have also joined in the TIST program by forming Small Groups and like our group, even they are already benefiting from the program. To get good rains we need to plant more trees, and knowning the importance of rains to our lives, all of us should render our support to this TIST Organisation and reap the benefits it provides to us.
Tamil Poem,
Translated Verbatim to English
By S. Ranganathan Asst. Agricultural Officer
Tist comes in search of you
Run enthusiastically to form Small Groups
Want a Source of Income?
Join TIST as a Small Group Member
Thoughts so inspiring
Like that of green trees
To lead a prosperous life
Join TIST as a Small Group member
Small Group Monthly Report (SGMR)
By Prabakar Srinivasan, TIST India Project Manager
The Small Group Monthly Report is an essential component of the TIST Program that should be submitted every month by all Small Groups registered with TIST. Unless and until a Small Group submits three such monthly reports continuously, they will not be entitled for the Voucher Payment which is effected once in a quarter to these registered Small Groups. Voucher Payment to each group is based on the total numbers of seedlings and trees which are alive that were reported by the Small Groups on their monthly reports. Failure in submission of SGMRs does not forefeit the payments but instead the payment will be kept pending till 3 SGMRs are submitted in a row by the Small Group. Groups should make sure to submit the SGMR each month by handing them over directly to the TIST coordinator during their visit to your village or to make sure that it reaches the coordinator in any other way. Every group member should individually stand responsible to see that this report which is very vital for payment of voucher to the groups is submitted at the right place to the right person on or before the 5th of each month.
The SGMR is usually filled out by the group members when all of them meet atleast once in a month together to discuss various issues. Every individual Small Group member should make sure that the actual and the exact quantity of the total trees and seedlings which are alive, and were planted by their Small Group is being entered in this report along with other details on Small Group activities. TIST also recommends Small Groups to maintain a log of their monthly activities which can then be used to fill out the SGMR at the end of each month. Finally this report is to be attested by atleast four Small Group members to certify the correctness of the information submitted on the report. When your Small Group runs out of blank SGMRs, please request your TIST coordinator for additional blank SGMRs to be used for the next 6 months.
TIST News Bulletin
By Prabakar Srinivasan, TIST India Project Manager
The 170 TIST Small Groups in Tamil Nadu have planted about 30,000 trees and seedlings. During the last 1 month or so, most groups have transplanted their fully grown seedlings into holes dug by them in their land. This was done in anticipation of rains that usually occurs in October and November. As expected, rainfall did occur during 3rd and 4th week of October prompting more Small Groups to begin transplanting.
TIST issued all registered 170 groups with a Tree Statement and groups that were eligible for payment received payment vouchers as well. A total of 46 groups were eligible for payment and received vouchers this time. The total amount paid to these groups was above Rs. 6,000 with the SindhuKavi group in Chittoor alone receiving more than Rs. 2,600 as their voucher payment. The remaining groups did not get vouchers mainly because they have not yet opened a savings account at a bank or post office. TIST urges all Small Groups to open savings accounts and provide TIST with the details of their account on their next SGMR. This way TIST can pay the pending amounts to all the registered groups.
In the past few weeks, TIST has also trained certain Small Group members to act as TIST coordinators. These coordinators will be collecting SGMRs from and distributing vouchers to Small Groups in the areas assigned to them. Please fully cooperate with these new coordinators so that TIST can function more effieciently and your group can benefit more from it.