ANNUAL REPORT 2005

FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC REHABILITATION
OF RURAL YOUTH

TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

ANNUAL REPORT 2004-05

During the year under review, FERRY continued with its programmes at its three project sites in West Bengal, endeavouring to provide vocational training to the rural youth of these areas in order to enable them to take their first steps towards self-sufficiency. This year a particular cause for celebration was provided by the generation of considerable income from local sources. Such local resource mobilization was made possible, in large part, due to the first-ever gathering of FERRY’s former trainees from all its project sites (including Kalanabagram) at Rampurhat in February 2005. This event, titled the “Milon Mela” (literally “meeting fete”), brought together former and present trainees and trainers with members of the extended FERRY family in order to exchange experiences, build bridges of friendship and make plans and preparations for the future. A more detailed account of the mela is given later in this report. Acknowledgement must be made of the untiring efforts of FERRY members without whom such successful local fund-raising would not have been possible.

FERRY would like to formally welcome its new project-partner, Canada-India Village Aid (CIVA), in the pages of this annual review of its activities. CIVA is supporting several projects at Sikhira, details of which are given below. We would like to acknowledge, with gratitude, the visits to our registered office in Kolkata and our Sikhira project site of Sri Essop Mia, Smt. Genise Gill and Smt. Susan Burns of CIVA.

FERRY’s work for the underprivileged youth of rural West Bengal would not have been possible without the continuing support, active encouragement and constructive criticism of its longstanding project-partner, the Deutsch-Indische Gesellschaft e.V., Germany. Particular thanks are due to Sri Barendra Kumar Mallick, President of the Wuppertal branch of the DIG e.V., whose regular monitoring of FERRY’s activities and visits to its project sites are a source of encouragement and inspiration for all FERRY members.

RAMPURHAT PROJECT

FERRY’s Rampurhat project site continued to be active during the year under review. The construction of the Sibabrata Ghosh Training Institute is now complete with doors and windows fixed and finishing touches given to the building. An impressive new office has been conjured up on the first floor, complete with a wooden partition, a sliding door, a steel almirah, and other furniture. The other rooms are used as classrooms for the various courses and for the purposes of the Machine Knitting Production Unit. FERRY members on their visits to Rampurhat can also stay on site nowadays.

During the year under review, the DIG, e.V. bore the establishment costs of FERRY's project site at Rampurhat and sponsored all the training programmes, for which, as always, grateful acknowledgement is made here.

This is also an appropriate place to acknowledge the determined efforts of Centre-in-Charge, Sri Madhusudan Banerjee, and Project Assistant, Sri Sukanta Bhattacharya in making the Rampurhat project site the success that it is. Both of them were inexhaustible in the lead up to the "Milon Mela" which could not have been realised without their contribution.

1. The “Milon Mela”

FERRY’s first-ever “Milon Mela” took place at Rampurhat on 19 and 20 February 2005. The idea of this mela, mooted by our President, Smt. Sunanda Das, was received with enthusiasm by FERRY’s members. The intention behind such an event was to bring together as many of FERRY’s former trainees, trainers, course coordinators and others as possible in order to gain from each other's experience before, during and after their association with FERRY. It was felt that the presence of successful former trainees would inspire those who have recently completed their training with FERRY and are only now setting off on the path to making a living for themselves. Contrarily, the failures of some trainees and training programmes can provide valuable lessons on how to overcome or avoid such failures in future.

In addition, FERRY invited several well-known teachers and activists to speak to trainees on various aspects of rural development, entrepreneurship, gender aspects of vocational training and so forth. Above all, it was felt that this mela would prove to be a bridge-building exercise among FERRY’s trainees, most of whom remain isolated from other trainees from different training centres.

Organising such an event required a concerted effort from numerous members and well-wishers of FERRY, especially those living in Rampurhat. Preparations began months before the actual event.

The mela was held under a large shamiana erected next to the Sibabrata Ghosh Vocational Training Centre. There were several stalls under the shamiana, where products made by FERRY’s trainees were on display and sale. These included woollen garments, various items of clothing, wooden furniture and other products, embroidery, inverters (assembled by current students of the course in Auto Electric and Inverter Maintenance & Repair) and a stall offering free repair and servicing of electronic goods. Students from FERRY’s project sites at Sikhira and Baidyapur had also brought their wares for display and sale.

Over a hundred trainees from FERRY’s training sites (including over 40 trainees from Sikhira and Baidyapur) and many other members, guests and well-wishers gathered for the mela.

Guests present at the mela included Sri Barendra Kumar Mallick of the DIG e.V.; Dr. Amit Hazra from Visva-Bharati university who spoke on the history and development of the voluntary sector in India and the possibilities and opportunities provided by the formation of self-help groups; Dr. Barnita Bagchi of the Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata, who spoke on the gender aspects of development; Smt. Shyamali Khastigir, well-known artist and activist in social causes, based in Santiniketan, who spoke on the aesthetics of products produced by voluntary organisations and their trainees; Sri Krishnapada Sil, yoga expert from Bolpur who came with a group of his students to speak on various aspects of health and yoga, and hold demonstration of the same.

Dr. Hazra and Dr. Bagchi interacted with trainees during the first two sessions on the first day of the mela. Most unfortunately, a severe hailstorm completely destroyed the shamiana on that very evening!

The most affected were the many trainees of FERRY’s courses at Rampurhat who had put up stalls to sell their products. Also affected were the students of a local school who had volunteered to put up a cultural programme on the occasion. But perhaps the most heartbroken by this turn of events were FERRY’s trainees based at Rampurhat who had written and rehearsed a play on FERRY and its presence and effect on their lives and whose performance had been the most eagerly-awaited event at the mela.

Despite the wrath of nature, however, the spirits of those present were not subdued and even though the mela could not proceed along planned lines, it provided an occasion for introspection, exchange and, most importantly, mirth. The dinner, held under open skies after the destruction of the shamiana, was typical of the never-say-die spirit of FERRY’s trainees and members who had worked unceasingly to make the mela a success.

Mention may also be made here of the various contributions, in cash and kind, made by FERRY’s trainees and members (including the provision of chicken for lunch by Jayanta Bhattacharya, one of FERRY’s former Poultry Keeping Course trainees from Rampurhat), all of which served to reinforce the sense of FERRY as one big family.

A local base of Associate Members and trainees from Rampurhat performed as a well-knit team both before and after the mela to ensure its success. FERRY’s heartfelt thanks go to Sri Shyamal Bhattacharya and all members of his family for not only taking an active part in the preparations for the mela but for providing all kinds of support during the mela itself, including providing shelter to those affected by the hailstorm. It is a matter of pride and cause of hope for the future that younger members, friends and Associate Members of FERRY worked untiringly before, during and after the mela to make it a success. Special mention may be made of Smt. Bhavani Sundararajan, Smt. Bipasha Dasgupta, Smt. Sujasha Bhattacharya, Smt. Sritama Halder, Smt. Suparna Banerjee, Smt. Krishna Dutta, Smt. Purnima Pal, Sri Arnab Bagchi, Sri Aritro Ganguly, Sri Atuk Bhutia, Sri Nitay Chatterjee, Sri Raja Guha, Sri Saugata Ghosh, Sri Tathagata Datta and Sri Nikhilesh Bhattacharya.

2. The Machine Knitting of Woollen Garments Course

This course, the second of two successive machine knitting courses, began in February 2004 with 28 trainees and ended in June 2004. The trainers for the course were Smt. Sobita Mondol and Smt. Chumki Adhikary; 23 trainees completed the course successfully and all of them are now working in the trade. Most are also part of FERRY's Machine Knitting Production Unit, supplying garments to the wholesale market in Konnagar. To date 18 of the 23 trainees have bought their own machines, an act that demonstrates their desire to continue in this trade.

3. Auto Electric and Inverter Maintenance & Repair Course

This year-long course began in January 2005 with 20 trainees and Sri Suresh Chandra Das as the trainer. The first couple of months saw four trainees dropping out. This is a problem that has cropped up earlier and FERRY recognises the need to minimise dropout rates at its training programmes. Classes for this course take place four days a week, in the afternoon. The course is progressing well, as evinced by the trainees’ display of their skill during the “Milon Mela” where they assembled inverters against orders from local residents.

4. Course in Machine Embroidery

The advertisement for this course saw as many as 70 candidates appearing for the interview in December 2004. In view of such enthusiastic response from the women of Rampurhat it was decided that FERRY would hold two back-to-back courses in machine embroidery at the project site (a similar arrangement had been made with the machine knitting course last year).

The first machine embroidery course began in February 2005 with 21 trainees and Sri Md. Selim as the trainer. Classes are taking place six days a week, during the first half of the day. A second course with 19 trainees will begin soon after the conclusion of this course.

5. Follow-up on earlier courses

(i) Carpentry Course (April – December 2003): 11 trainees successfully completed the course and all of them are continuing in the trade. This impressive lot of young men has already proved to be an asset to FERRY, having helped to make wooden tables for the Machine Knitting Production Unit. Almost all of them took time off their busy schedules to make wooden furniture and other products for the "Milon Mela".

(ii) Model Duckery (functioning from 2003-04): the duckery has had to be temporarily closed in March 2005 with the existing ducks sold off. The ducks were past their prime and were not laying enough eggs. The primary reason for the closure, though, is the continuing problem of procuring chicks, which put off a number of prospective candidates for the duckery course.

FERRY did not suffer any losses over the experiment with ducks though. Costs were recovered through the sale of eggs and ducks.

(iii) Machine Knitting Production Unit (set up in 2003-04): last year's Annual Report noted that 10 former trainees were working at the unit and supplying woollen garments to the wholesale market at Konnagar. That number has now swelled to 25. These women have set up an informal cooperative and regularly come to the unit to work. Many of them have machines at home but come to work at the unit as well to keep up the atmosphere of camaraderie.

BAIDYAPUR PROJECT

During the year under review, FERRY maintained only a skeleton presence at Baidyapur, supported from its own resources. The experiment with nylon-tikka fish ultimately proved futile. Two batches of quail were reared during the year and sold, mainly through the efforts of Sri Abhijit Gupta, in Kolkata. Unfortunately the rooftop poultry was destroyed during a storm in May 2005.

It may be noted here that FERRY may have to take the hard decision to discontinue its activities at Baidyapur, following a thorough review of its potential as a training site during 2005-06.

SIKHIRA PROJECT

The year under review was one of the busiest in the short history of FERRY at Sikhira. The final phase of the Two-Wheeler Repair and Maintenance course was funded by DIG, e.V. This was followed by a series of courses sponsored by FERRY’s new project-partner, CIVA, who also bore the establishment costs at the project site. CIVA’s funds have enabled FERRY to appoint Sri Bibhas Majhi as Project Assistant, whose presence is essential in view of the increased activity at the project site.

The number of courses running simultaneously meant FERRY has had to procure a rented room at Khanyan. Unfortunately the year also saw a misunderstanding between FERRY and the members of the Bandhab Samity, the club at Sikhira on whose premises FERRY’s courses were being conducted. This resulted in FERRY having to discontinue classes at the club premises. Courses however continue, with a temporary arrangement having been made at Sikhira. FERRY is hopeful that the problems with the Bandhab Samity will be resolved soon and courses can, once again, proceed smoothly at Sikhira.

Many of the courses begun in 2004-05 will spill over to the next financial year. In view of this FERRY has decided against submitting proposals for long-duration courses for 2005-06, focusing instead on capsule courses.

1. Two-Wheeler Repair and Maintenance Course

The second phase of this course, which commenced in January 2004 with 16 trainees and Sk. Nazimuddin as trainer, came to an end this year. The examinations were conducted in January 2005. Twelve trainees appeared for the examination and their performance was very satisfying. Sri Nazimuddin has proved to be an inspirational teacher and under his tutelage the trainees had been providing free repair and servicing to local two-wheeler owners during their training period. Nine of the 12 trainees are already working in the trade.

2. Machine Embroidery Course

This course ran for 6 months from July 2004 to January 2005 with 17 trainees, 15 of whom successfully completed the course. The trainer for the course was Sk. Naimul Alam. Most of the trainees have set up their own embroidery units after completing the course.

3. Repair of Electronics Goods Course

This ten-month course, its duration extended by a month, commenced in July 2004 with 11 trainees, Sri Nandalal Ghosh as trainer, and Sri Debdas Bhandari of the George Telegraph Training Institute as external expert. Sri Bhandari, who had been the external resource person for FERRY on the two previous occasions when this course was held in Baidyapur and Rampurhat, has been making fortnightly visits to Sikhira, and trainees have benefited immensely from his presence.

4. Comprehensive Tailoring Course

This one-year course began in February 2005. Forty-four candidates appeared for the interview of whom 20 were selected. The trainer for the course is Sk. Ashraf Ali. Classes take place between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., four days a week, at Khanyan.

PROJECTS FOR 2005-06

FERRY intends to conduct the following projects during 2005-06

Rampurhat: (i) Machine Embroidery, second course,

(ii) Advanced Machine Knitting,

(iii) Electronic Appliances Repair and Maintenance

Sikhira: (i) Batik,

(ii) Jute Products,

(iii) Machine Embroidery

During the year under review, the Executive Committee of FERRY met on five occasions. The Executive Committee for the term 2003-05, elected at the Annual General Meeting of 2003, was as follows:

President: Smt. Sunanda Das

Vice President: Sri Prafulla Kumar Chakrabarty

Executive Secretary: Sri Kashinath Mukherjee

Treasurer: Dr. Abhijit Gupta

Secretaries: Sri Madhusudan Banerjee

Sri Nikhilesh Bhattacharya

Members: Smt. Agamani Gupta

Sri Ambarnath Ghosh

Sri Lakshmi Kanta Ghosh

Sri Samantak Das

Sri Saugata Ghosh

A new Executive Committee for the term 2005-07 will be elected at the Annual General Meeting of 2005.

As on 31 March 2005, the total membership of FERRY stood at 78, inclusive of 2 Honorary Members, 4 Life Members, 16 General Members and 56 Associate Members.

FERRY would like to thank Messrs. GUPTA & MITRA, Chartered Accountants and Auditors, Windsor House, 29 R. N. Mukherjee Road, Kolkata 700 001 and all its partners, patrons, resource persons and well-wishers for their continuing faith in and enthusiastic support for FERRY and all it stands for.

For and on behalf of the Executive Committee

31 July 2005 Sunanda Das

16, Central Park President, FERRY

Kolkata 700 032

List of General Donors

1. Aaml Krishna Ghosh

2. AK Chatterjee

3. Amarendra Kumar Ganai

4. Ambarnath Ghosh

5. Amit Kumar Hatial

6. Anindita Ghosh

7. Anirban Mitra

8. Arun Sanyal

9. Arundhati Ghosh

10. Ashok Mustafi

11. Banibrata Mondal

12. Baren K. Mallick

13. Basudev Thakur

14. Bhagabat Das Gupta

15. Bibekananda Deb

16. Bimal Gati Roy

17. Biswanath Banerjee

18. Buddhajiban Chakrabarti

19. Chandana Chakraborty

20. D.B. Mitra

21. Deviprasad Bandyopadhyay

22. Dileep Kumar Kanjilal

23. Dilip Kumar Paul

24. Genise Gill

25. Gopal Chandra Mandal

26. Gouri Prasad Ghosh

27. Hare Krishna Atta

28. Heemndranath Mukhopadhyay

29. Hiran Kr. Roy

30. Joint Executors to the Estate of Bratindranath Ghosh (deceased)

31. Joint Executors to the Estate of Santanu Ghosh (deceased)

32. Kashinath Mukherjee

33. KC Sen

34. Krishna Dutta

35. Mita Ghosh

36. Nanda Kumar Bhangi

37. Narayan Chandra Biswas

38. Narayan Chandra Saha

39. Nemai Ghosh Chowdhury

40. Nilgrib Deb Roy

41. Nirod Baran Chakraborty

42. Nitay Chatterjee

43. Paritosh Biswas

44. Pradip K. Datta

45. Pradip Kumar Roy

46. Pranab K. Chatterjee

47. Radha Ram Mukhopadhyay

48. Radharani Mukhopadhyay

49. Rajyadhar Ghosh

50. Sachidulal Banerjee

51. Sadhan Kumar Mapa

52. Santanu Kumar Sengupta

53. Saswata Roy

54. Satish Priodarshi

55. Satyendra Narayan Roy Choudhury

56. Shibani Thakur

57. Shital Mazumdar

58. Sivaji Dasgupta

59. Sobhendranath Ghosh

60. Subhashree Basu

61. Susanta Mukhopadhyay

Members of the Foundation

Honorary Members

1. Inge Boie

2. Sanat Kumar Mukherjee

Life Members

1. Chitra Ghosh

2. Prabir Kumar Basu

3. Subimal Ghosh

4. Sunil Guha

General Members

1. Abhijit Gupta

2. Achintya Kumar Pal (Kalanabagram)

3. Agamani Gupta

4. Ambarnath Ghosh

5. Benukar Mitra (Baidyapur)

6. Kashinath Mukherjee

7. Lakshmi Kanta Ghosh (Baidyapur)

8. Madhab Prasad Ganguly (Sikhira)

9. Madhusudan Banerjee (Rampurhat)

10.Nikhilesh Bhattacharya

11.Prafulla Kumar Chakravarti

12.Rita Nandy (Baidyapur)

13.Samantak Das

14.Saugata Ghosh

15.Sunanda Das

16.Suvo Ghosh

Associate Members

1. Anindita Ghosh

2. Ankita Mukherjee

3. Aritro Ganguly

4. Arnab Bagchi

5. Arundhati Ghosh

6. Asish Kumar Lahiri

7. Atuk Bhutia

8. Balaka Karmakar

9. Bhavani Sundararajan

10.Bipasha Dasgupta

11.Chandra Sinha

12.Chandrima Bhattacharya

13.Chumki Adhikary (Rampurhat)

14.Cyril Arijit Ghosh

15.Debanjan Chakrabarti

16.Debasree Mandal

17.Dhirendranath Banerjee (Rampurhat)

18.Dipankar Baidya

19.Farida Begam (Rampurhat)

20.Gita Banerjee

21.Gouriprasad Ghosh

22.Iman Mukherji

23.Jhuma Basak

24.Kartik Chowdhury (Rampurhat)

25.Kasturi Basu

26.Krishna Datta

27.Krishna Dutta (Rampurhat)

28.Krishna Mukherjee

29.Madhumita Sengupta

30.Mitali Bhattacharya

31.Naba Gouranga Das (Rampurhat)

32.Nitay Chatterjee (Rampurhat)

33.Padmini Ray Chaudhury

34.Partha Pratim Gupta

35.Rajyadhar Ghosh (Rampurhat)

36.Rimi B. Chatterjee

37.Rosanne Dasgupta

38.Roshni Sen

39.Rudraneil Sengupta

40.Sadhan Chatterjee (Rampurhat)

41.Samir Halder (Konnagar)

42.Sandeep Banejee

43.Sayandeb Chowdhury

44.Shyamal Bhattacharjee (Rampurhat)

45.Shelley Datta

46.Sobita Mondal (Rampurhat)

47.Somnath Banerjee

48.Soumi Das

49.Sritama Halder

50.Sudarshana Basu

51.Sumita Goswami

52.Sunil Prasanna Roy (Rampurhat)

53.Tapashi Raychowdhuri

54.Tathagata Datta

55.Tinku Pal (Sikhira)

56.Trinankur Banerjee

FERRY's Executive Committee for the term 2005-07

President: Sri Kashinath Mukherjee

A-5/2, Siriti Housing Estate, 1, Raja Rammohun Roy Road

Kolkata 700 041

Vice-President Sri Prafulla Kumar Chakrabarty

16-2A, Dover Terrace, Kolkata 700 019

Executive Secretary Sri Abhijit Gupta

16 Central Park, Kolkata 700 032

Treasurer Sri Sougata Ghosh

18A, Kabir Road, Kolkata 700 017

Secretaries Sri Nikhilesh Bhattacharya

1-A West Row, Park Circus, Kolkata 700 017

Sri Madhusudan Banerjee

Nischintapur, Siddeshwaritala Para, Rampurhat, Dist. Birbhum

Members Smt. Sunanda Das

Flat 7, Block 16, Regent Park Housing Estate

Kolkata 700 040

Smt Agamani Gupta

16 Central Park, Kolkata 700 032

Sri Samantak Das

Flat 7, Block 16, Regent Park Housing Estate

Kolkata 700 040

Sri Ambarnath Ghosh

80/5A Sarat Bose Road, Kolkata 700 025

Sri Aritro Ganguly

20 Ganguly Bagan East Road, Kolkata 700 084