Itanagar: Bordumsa is a small hamlet in Changalang district of Arunachal Pradesh, where most people depend on agriculture and farm labour for a living. The Himalaya Self-Help Group was founded in this village in 2015 with the motto ‘self-sufficiency and independence.’ The group had 11 members, and the majority of them worked in agriculture. The group used to meet on a regular basis to discuss various topics such as loans, savings, group activities, etc., with a total savings of Rs 10,710.

It all started with the North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Society (NERCRMS) under the North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP), in which the villagers received financial support of Rs 46,186 and they had collected a total of Rs 79099 from all sources. The group members chose ‘fishery’ as a group activity for self-sustainability, said the Union Ministry of Development of North-East Region (DoNER).

Initially, they invested Rs 8800 for the purchase of fish saplings and other development costs. As a group activity, the total profit from fishing was Rs 20,000. Every two years, they harvest the fish pond. As a result of this activity, many changes in the organisation occurred, including unity, leadership, self-sustainability, and other developing social services such as cleaning drives, etc. /BI/