Model women of Manipur

Samarjit Kambam *

Yumnam Ibetombi and Oinam Ibetombi being awarded by the President :: Pix - TSE

It really warmth our hearts when two Manipuri women namely, Yumnam Ibetombi Devi and Oinam Ibetombi Devi both hailing from Bishenpur District had been conferred with First National Innovator's Award by Mr Pranab Mukherjee, President of India on the 7th National Grassroots Technological Innovations and Traditional Knowledge Awards event held in New Delhi for developing herbal based medicine to cure the deadly 'coccidiosis', a common disease that attacks poultry, especially chicken.

The ingredients of the medication for the cure of coccidiosis consist of fermented dried fish locally named 'ngari' which is widely used in every Manipuri household for preparing various indegineous dishes of Manipuris and has been considered herbal and recommended as a poultry medication by scientists of National Innovation Foundation(NIF) that runs under the Central Government which can be considered a great achievement.

The duo Manipuri women are looking forward to setting up a medicine manufacturing unit at their hometown or village. We the people of Manipur are really proud of the innovative achievements which is being recognized at the national level.

The two women are also quite enterprising as they had planned to set up a small scale industry or a co-operative which will benefit the people of Manipur and improve the economy of our state provided the state government provides them the required resources and infrastructure.

When it comes to co-operative society, mention may be made of 'Amul' brand under the aegis of a co-operative society of Anand, a small town in Kaira District in Gujarat known as Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union Ltd which was later transferred to Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd(GCMMF) bringing forward the 'White Revolution' in the world of milk and milk products in India.

Now, Amul milk products are even exported to neighbouring countries, thereby giving employment to thousands of people and bringing up the economy of the state of Gujarat as well as the nation.

The aim and aspiration of the two Manipuri women, if materialized will provide immense benefit to the people of Manipur as there is ample scope to raise upto the national level as a big industry. But the stumbling block is the lack of capital, the issue of funding, red-tapism and lackadaisical attitude and lack of initiative by the state government.

It can clearly be assumed that there is no industry in Manipur worth mentioning in any sector be it agro-based, Information Technology, power and energy, food processing, tourism, metallurgical, electronics etc. In fact, the whole economy of Manipur is tantamount to three or four big malls or multiplexes of a metro city such as New Delhi.

Of course, there are many constraints to the path of economic growth of Manipur such as peculiar topographical position, pitiable transport facility, non-availability of rail link with national mainstream, socio-political factors, infestation of insurgency and other anti-social elements, etc. How can big investors and multinationals dare to step foot in our state in such risky environment leave aside FDI(Foreign Direct Investments).

The people of Manipur compared to their counterparts of other states are deprived of many amenities when it comes to infrastructure, energy and power, industries or manufacturing plants, funding by the state government etc. However, the people of Manipur despite all the above mentioned amenities are quite resourceful and have immense potential and talent which is not being harnessed.

Mention may be made of the contribution by Manipur in the field of games and sports, thereby saving the face of India in front of the eyes of other developed nations even though the sports and games infrastructure in Manipur are in a pitiable state compared to other states of India.

It is a foregone conclusion by many advanced western countries through experience that a nation or a state will become productive, developed and prosperous only when the womenfolk are empowered. A dedicated and sincere effort by the leaders governing the state of Manipur and a little degree of attention by the Central government will go a long way in rapid upsurge in development and economic growth of the state of Manipur.

I hope the government of the state as well as central do the needful and take up appropriate steps so that aim and efforts of innovative, enterprising, exemplary and eye-opener women like Yumnam Ibetombi Devi and Oinam Ibetombi Devi do not go in vain.