Guwahati, June 6: Pickles have emerged from being a lip-smacking item to an employment-generating proposition. If a corporate organisation and All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) get the ingredients right, scores of youth in the state will be able to eke out a living.

Sanghavi Foods Pvt Limited, a corporate organisation in the field of pickles and processed food in the country, has joined hands with AASU to generate self-employment opportunities for the development of the state.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed today between Sanghavi Foods, promoted by Nilon’s Enterprises Private Limited and the Assam Unnati Sabha, an NGO floated by AASU working for all-round development of the state.

Sanghavi Foods is in the business of processing fruits and vegetables. It has set up a unit at Dalgaon with an investment of Rs 21 crore.

Assam Unnati Sabha had approached the firm for cultivation of fruits and vegetables like papaya, carrots, mangoes and lime by its members under the contract farming scheme of the organisation. “We are working for economic revolution of the state in which each person can live a life of dignity and also create employment,” said Samujjal Bhattacharyya, general secretary of the sabha.

Members of the sabha have planted papaya seeds at Barekuri in Tinsukia district on a 175-bigha plot acquired by the NGO. Initially 25 youths will be working in the project.

The company has accepted the proposal of the sabha and given an assurance to support the initiatives of the NGO by providing seeds and technical guidance. However, the extent of procurement or commitment on behalf of the company will be subject to the quantity required by the factory, which has been included in the memorandum of understanding.

“The wellbeing of society is also looked into, besides creating self-employment,” said Deepak Sanghavi, managing director of Nilon’s Enterprises Pvt Limited.

The factory at Dalgaon has a processing capacity of 15,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables. But at present it is producing 9,000 tonnes.

Under the MoU, the rates of different fruits and vegetables, which will be bought by Sanghavi Foods, will be agreed upon with the office- bearers of the sabha from time to time on an assured buy-back basis. The cultivator will ferry the produce in truckloads and shall be responsible for loading fruits and vegetables on trucks in a ready-to-use condition.