Nehemiah Rong
The women folks in Senapati town mostly comprises of those hard working tribal. As for reasons like seeking better living standard, better income and employment, children’s better education and to relax from manual field works these women folks along with their family shift from their hamlets to town.
These women folks collect, store and sell the vegetables and fruits mostly coming from the remote villages of Senapati District. They purchase the vegetables, fruits etc. in wholesale from those villagers who supply them. These women vegetables vendors formed themselves Self Help Groups among themselves. They cultivate the policy of saving and thriving. They get credit from the banks and keeping a good rapport and relationship with the bank.
One gets most of the things here in this market. Items such as wild mushrooms, wild green leafy vegetables, wild fruits such as gooseberries, wild apple etc. and coming back to grown vegetables and fruits one can get cabbage, tomato, potato, squash, etc. Fruits like passion fruit, plum, pears etc are found during their respective season(s). Fruits like apples, grapes, oranges are brought from outside market mainly from Dimapur and Imphal.
Having to learn the health hazard of consuming the chemical fertilizers products now people prefer and go for organic products. Most of the vegetables and fruits sold by these women folks are of organic products. The authentication of organic from non-organic products may still take some time. But that day will be quite no far when authenticated organic products hit the market.
‘Early Bird Catches the Worms’, must have inspired these women folks to begin their day as early as 5.00 am and sit upto 6.30 pm. Some start their day with direct sale of their vegetables products and some wait for the buses suppose to come from the remote villages. Their main task is collection, storage and selling of the village produce. All throughout the day and through the weekdays people never stop coming and buying the vegetables with exception on Sundays.
Among many others, a Self Help Group name “Vae Zaomepu Self Help Group,’ whose central focus is collection cum distribution center has envisioned these benefit points:-Better linkages with villagers/towns and neighbbouring states through buying and selling and providing self-employment to women folks. “Constant availability of fresh vegetables, fruits etc, to provide hygienic products, to increase family income and better livelihood. Better marketing facilities,” etc.
Looking to the past these women folks had a hard time sitting in open space near National Highway-39 with umbrella to shelter themselves from rain and sun until in 2004 the turpoline roofed market shed was constructed and later in 2005 with CGI roofing. To brighten the faces of these women folks and also add asset to the district headquarter, the pucca RCC Marketing Complex is the need of the hour. Then ‘come rain, come wind, come storm’, these women will have a secure and comfortable place to carry out their petty business to feed hundreds.
