In December 2007, FERRY will enter the 25th year of its existence, an occasion that offers the extended FERRY family an opportunity to look back and celebrate what the organisation has achieved thus far. FERRY has single-mindedly gone about its task of equipping young women and men of rural Bengal with skills that enable to them to earn a living, without compromising on the principles set by its founder members. This is no small achievement for a small, non-profit making organisation run by volunteers and we would like to thank all those who have been part of the journey at some stage or the other. We hope to celebrate the landmark by bringing all these together at two or three different venues during the course of the 25th year. If we can recreate the almost-magical atmosphere of the Milon Mela—minus the terrible storm—held in Rampurhat in February 2005, the celebrations should prove to be quite an exciting affair.
At the same time, we must not forget that over time FERRY has had to adapt to new situations, resulting in changes that pull us in different directions. On the one hand, the organisation now has a bigger repertoire of courses, which allows us to be more flexible. On the other, FERRY has amassed more assets and therefore greater liabilities along the way, which takes away our flexibility. We now also have more responsibilities, having got involved in the post-training development of the students. The silver jubilee of FERRY also gives us an opportunity to assess these changes and, based on our evaluation, decide on the organisation’s future. Our plans for 2007-08 include a survey on those who have been trained by FERRY over the past five-six years at two of its project sites—Baidyapur and Khanyan. This will be the first survey since 2001 and it is expected to provide us with valuable insight into how far we have been successful in achieving our objectives.
On its 25th year, FERRY also plans to conduct, for only the second time in its history, the Nurse’s Assistant training course in Rampurhat. The course is the biggest in FERRY inventory in terms of budget. However, its importance lies in the impact it had had, not only in the lives of the trainees, but also on the lives of the people of Rampurhat, when the course was first held there in 1989-90. Much of the goodwill that FERRY enjoys at the sub-divisional town today can be traced back to the time in 1990 when the newly trained nurse’s assistants had worked tirelessly at emergency camps set up during an outbreak of enteric dysentery in and around Rampurhat. FERRY hopes that the new course will be equally successful under the guidance of Dr Sobhendranath Ghosh who has agreed to be the course director, the post he had held during the previous course.
As always, FERRY would like to thank its project partners, the Deutsch-Indische Gesellschaft (DIG) e.V., Germany Wuppertal
RAMPURHAT PROJECT
The Rampurhat project site continues to go from strength to strength, thanks largely to the efforts of Project-in-charge Madhusudan Banerjee and Project Assistant Sukanta Bhattacharjee. They have managed to create a wonderful synergy among the trainers, trainees and members and well-wishers of FERRY at Rampurhat. Special mention must also be made of Sri Shyamal Bhattacharjee, Smt Shipra Bhattacharjee and Smt Suparna Banerjee for their active role in all spheres of FERRY’s work in Rampurhat and for their wonderful hospitality to visiting members and guests of the organisation.
We are also happy to report that a brand new Hero Honda Splendour motorcycle has been bought to replace Sri Madhusudan Banerjee’s old scooter, which often gave its riders the uncanny feeling of being frozen in time and space in an uncomfortable position. Given that over the past couple of years, more and more trainees from far-flung places are joining FERRY courses at Rampurhat, a fuel-efficient and safe two-wheeler had become essential to enable Sri Banerjee to conduct surveys, monitor the current trainees and maintain the network with former trainees. We must thank DIG, e.V. for making it possible for us to buy the new motorcycle.
Status of building
Work on constructing a boundary wall and filling in of a portion of the pond behind the Sibabrata Ghosh Vocational Training Institute has begun. The work has to be done to ensure that the erosion of the bank does not affect the foundation of the building. The toilet outside the building, which had caved in due to the same reason, will also be rebuilt soon. It will be slightly bigger with separate sections for women and men, keeping in mind the large number of trainees coming to the project site everyday.
After the toilet is completed, a tube-well will be set inside the FERRY compound with funds donated by Sri Jagabandhu Mukherjee and Frau Lilli Mukherjee.
Course in Repair and Maintenance of Electronic Appliances
Originally designed as a 12-month course, it began on February 15, 2006 with 20 trainees and Sri Chandan Kumar Mukherjee as the trainer. Currently, 18 trainees are regularly attending classes. Going beyond the prescribed syllabus, the trainees have assembled a number of electronic and electrical devices (stabiliser, emergency light, FM and MW radio, etc.) and sold them to local consumers with small margins of profit. They have also assembled a digitised inverter for FERRY’s project site, which is plagued by frequent power interruptions.
However, the incursion beyond the syllabus has meant that the course is running behind schedule. Though it should have ended by February 15, 2007, it will have to be extended by two months (at no additional cost to DIG) to enable the trainer to cover the entire course content.
Course in Machine Embroidery
The eight-month course began on September 15, 2006 with 24 trainees and Md. Selim as the trainer. Classes are being held six days a week (total: 24 hours/week). The trainees, divided into eight groups of three, work on three machines, each trainee getting an hour of practice every alternate day. There have been no dropouts so far and the course is running on schedule.
Course in Carpentry
The 10-month course began on September 15, 2006 with 11 trainees and Sri Ashim Mehra and Sri Kartick Chowdhury as the trainers. Classes are held at night (6 pm onwards), six days a week. There have been no dropouts.
The trainees have already built benches for one classroom at the project site, three tables for the embroidery machines and three stools and their own working table. They are also working against orders from the local market.
Machine Embroidery Production Unit
Nine former trainees, selected from the 43 who completed the first two Embroidery course in Rampurhat, are working on three machines at the production unit under the supervision of Md Selim. Selection was on the basis of merit and need. Of the three machines at the unit, two were donated by Frau Gisela Chakravarty and one by Frau Gertrude Banerjee and Sri Nitaidas Banerjee, all three of whom have visited Rampurhat.
A number of other former trainees have also expressed the desire to join the production unit. They will be accommodated as soon as FERRY gets more orders. Four trainees have bought their own machine (the meagre number explained by the fact that embroidery machines are quite expensive at Rs 7,000 each).
Machine Knitting Production Unit
Most of the former trainees working for the wholesale market in Konnagar went slow during the winter months, as they were busy executing orders from the local market (where they can earn more). However, around 14 trainees are still regularly working on the Konnagar orders. They work mostly from home on their own machines. At the last count, former trainees of FERRY together possess 44 knitting machines — a number that suggests that they are well quipped to corner a substantial portion of the local market.
Groundwork for Nurses’ Assistants course
A FERRY team along with representatives of the DIG met two former trainees of the previous Nurses’ Assistants training course held in Rampurhat in 1989-90. Smt Lakshmi Saha and Smt Annakali Mondal both concurred that there was great demand for skilled professionals in their field. For instance, there are as many as six private nursing homes in Rampurhat town itself. Newcomers in the industry can expect to earn around Rs 2,500-3,000. Smt Saha and Smt Mondal said they would extend all possible help when FERRY conducts the course again in Rampurhat.
KHANYAN PROJECT
There was no let up in the increased pace of FERRY activities at Khanyan during the year under review. FERRY had shifted to a new rented place on the Grand Trunk Road in 2005 and has now rented the entire two-storeyed building. We would like to thank CIVA for its support to projects at Khanyan.
The problem of running water at the centre will be solved by digging a well behind the building. FERRY president Kashinath Mukherjee has agreed to donate a pump set for the Khanyan project site.
Electrician’s Training
The course began in February 2007 with Sri Naresh Mandal and Sri Shyamal Ghosh as the trainers. It may be pointed out that in addition to the examination conducted by FERRY, the trainees will have to sit for the examinations conducted by the Department of Electricity, Government of West Bengal. Currently, 15 trainees are attending classes.
Jute Handicrafts Manufacture
The course began in June 2006 and ended in February 2007 with 12 trainees appearing in the end-of-course exam. Efforts are on to link them with jute product manufacturing units to give them a steady source of income.
Machine Knitting of Woollen Garments
This course, which began in December 2005, came to an end in July 2006, with 19 trainees appearing for the terminal examination. The examination was conducted by a team of experts from the Rampurhat project site. Many of the trainees have bought machines and have started executing orders.
Comprehensive Tailoring
The course, which began in February 2005, was originally scheduled to span 12 months but was later extended by two months in an attempt to do full justice to the syllabus. Sixteen trainees appeared for the end-of-course exam and their collective performance left a lot to be desired. Under the circumstances, FERRY decided to dispense with the services of the original trainer, Sk Ashraf Ali, and get Rajesh Nandi, a former tailoring trainer from Baidyapur to conduct a remedial course. It was also decided not to issue certificates to the trainees until the remedial course was over. In all, 10 trainees attended classes taken by Rajesh Nandi. They did creditably in their terminal exams and as many seven of them are currently working in the trade, with their own machines.
BAIDYAPUR PROJECT
FERRY remains undecided about the future of the Baidyapur project site, but the success of the courses held over the past couple of years has been encouraging. FERRY has shifted to new rented premises in the Baidyapur bus-stand area because the old project centre was in danger of collapsing altogether. FERRY will hold one course at the project site in 2007-08—carpentry courses funded by CIVA—and continue to monitor the progress of Baidyapur before taking a firm decision on the future.
Two-wheeler repair and maintenance course
The course which began in February 2006 with Sri Ratan Ghosh as trainer came to an end in January 2007. Sixteen trainees completed the course, though two of them did not appear in the end-of-course exam. Of the 16, three have already set up their own garages, while six are working for other mechanics.
PROJECTS FOR 2007-08
Rampurhat: (i) Machine Embroidery, fourth course,
(ii) Nurses' assistant training course
Baidyapur: (i) Carpentry course
(ii) Capsule course in colour TV repair and maintenance
Khanyan (i) Survey of past courses
During the year under review, the Executive Committee of FERRY met on four occasions. The Executive Committee for the term 2005-07, elected at the Annual General Meeting of 2005, was as follows:
President: Sri Kashinath Mukherjee
Vice President: Sri Prafulla Kumar Chakrabarty
Executive Secretary: Dr. Abhijit Gupta
Treasurer: Sri Saugata Ghosh
Secretaries: Sri Madhusudan Banerjee
Sri Nikhilesh Bhattacharya
Members: Smt. Agamani Gupta
Sri Ambarnath Ghosh
Smt. Bipasha Dasgupta
Sri Samantak Das
Smt. Sunanda Das
A new Executive Committee for the term 2007-09 will be elected at the Annual General Meeting of 2007.
As on 31 March 2007, the total membership of FERRY stood at 76 inclusive of 2 Honorary Members, 4 Life Members, 20 general Members and 50Associate 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
1 July 2007 Kashinath Mukherjee
16, Central Park President, FERRY
Kolkata 700 032
Members of the Foundation
Donors
1. Angana Sengupta
2. Arani Sinha
3. Banibrata Mondal
4. Barendra K. Mallick
5. Cyril Arijit Ghosh
6. Jagabandhu Mukherjee
7. Raja Guha
8. Sandeep Banerjee
9. Saswata Roy
10. Shanti Ranjan Bhattacharya
11. Shibani Thakur
12. Sourendranath Mitra
13. Sunil Roy Chowdhury
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.Aritro Ganguly
6.Atuk Bhutia
7.Benukar Mitra (Baidyapur)
8.Bhavani Sundararajan
9.Bipasha Dasgupta
10. Kashinath Mukherjee
11. Lakshmi Kanta Ghosh (Baidyapur)
12. Madhab Prasad Ganguly (Sikhira)
13. Madhusudan Banerjee (Rampurhat)
14. Nikhilesh Bhattacharya
15. Prafulla Kumar Chakravarti
16. Rita Nandy (Baidyapur)
17. Samantak Das
18. Saugata Ghosh
19. Sritama Halder
20. Sunanda Das
Associate Members
1.Aishwarya Iyer
2.Amalendu Bhadra
3.Anindita Ghosh
4.Ankita Mukherjee
5.Aparoopa Datta
6.Arundhati Ghosh
7.Asish Kumar Lahiri
8.Balaka Karmakar
9.Chandrima Bhattacharya
10. Chumki Adhikary (Rampurhat)
11. Cyril Arijit Ghosh
12. Debanjan Chakrabarti
13. Dhirendranath Banerjee (Rampurhat)
14. Dipanjan Ghosh
15. Diyashree Chattopadhyay
16. Farida Begam (Rampurhat)
17. Gita Banerjee
18. Gouriprasad Ghosh
19. Iman Mukherji
20. Kartik Chowdhury (Rampurhat)
21. Krishna Dutta (Rampurhat)
22. Krishna Mukherjee
23. Moumita Sen
24. Naba Gouranga Das (Rampurhat)
25. Nisha Mukherjee
26. Nitay Chatterjee (Rampurhat)
27. Partha Pratim Gupta
28. Poushali Bhaduri
29. Rajyadhar Ghosh (Rampurhat)
30. Rimi B. Chatterjee
31. Rosanne Dasgupta
32. Roshni Sen
33. Sadhan Chatterjee (Rampurhat)
34. Samir Halder (Konnagar)
35. Sandeep Banejee
36. Shatarupa Sengupta
37. Shelley Datta
38. Shreya Ghosh
39. Shyamal Bhattacharjee (Rampurhat)
40. Sobita Mondal (Rampurhat)
41. Somnath Banerjee
42. Soumik Datta
43. Sreyashi Dastidar
44. Sudarshana Basu
45. Sukanta Bhattacharjee
46. Suvo Ghosh
47. Tapashi Raychowdhuri
48. Tathagata Datta
49. Tinku Pal (Sikhira)
50. Trinankur Banerjee
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