Migrant Workers Trained By KVIC Under 'Honey Mission' Reap First Harvest

The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) on Monday said distressed migrant workers engaged with its 'Honey Mission' in Uttar Pradesh in August have reaped their first honey harvest and are awaiting a bumper yield during December-March.

To begin with, five migrant workers in western UP's Muzaffarnagar district extracted 253 kg of honey from 50 honey bee boxes that were distributed to them on August 25 this year.

'Raw honey sells at an average of Rs 200 per kg and at this rate it is estimated to fetch nearly Rs 50,000 to the migrant workers. This means an average income of Rs 10,000 to each of these beneficiaries,' KVIC said. A total of 700 bee boxes were distributed to 70 migrant workers after training by KVIC in this region. Honey extraction from remaining bee boxes will continue in coming days, it added. Responding to the Prime Minister's call for 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat', KVIC had engaged hundreds of migrant workers in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with its flagship schemes like Honey Mission, Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana and Project DigniTEA, among others.

DCB Bank launches fixed deposits with healthcare benefits DCB Bank on Monday announced launch of multi-benefit fixed deposit product, DCB Health Plus FD, which offers attractive returns of 6.90 per cent interest per annum on a 700-day fixed deposit along with free medical services and healthcare benefits.

The 'Health Plus' services, offered in a graded scale and matched with the fixed deposit amount, are provided by ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company.

Among the health plus benefits are tele-consultation and face-to-face appointments with empanelled general physicians, specialists and emergency services, DCB Bank said in a release.

The customers can avail special pricing for prescribed pharmacy expenses, it added.

The benefits are available for a year and if left unused, it does not carry forward to the next year. However, similar benefits would still be available to deposit holders in the following year as well, until the duration of DCB Health Plus FD.

Eko India provides services to over 50 lakh migrants in 4 weeks Fintech firm Eko India, which facilitates basic banking services such as deposit, withdrawal, and remittance to migrant workers, on Monday said it has serviced over 50 lakh migrants over the last four weeks and transacted over Rs 2 crore in the last 12 months.

With over 3 lakh merchants and entrepreneurs on its network, Eko India said it has also launched a platform with APIs (Application Programming Interface) and SDKs (Software Development Kit), encouraging developers to develop their apps on its platform.

Using Eko's open-API platform, developers can enable their partnering merchants to service migrants with basic banking like opening of a bank account, cash-in, cash-out and remittance services, it said in a release.

Eko is planning to include more services like utility bill payment, insurance, education, entertainment, credit, gaming, among others, it added.

These apps have been designed and customised to suit local needs. These developers through their respective apps have created a network of over 20,000 merchants and serviced over 20 lakh migrants. All developers together have earned over Rs 65 crore in fee income in the last nine months, it said. 

(PTI)