Narayanpur
Ishwari Godra’s husband runs an atta chakki where wheat is ground into flour. But as her family is big, “a little bit of additional income is always useful”.
Ishwari hails from tribal-dominated Narayanpur district in the Bastar sub-division of Chhattisgarh, infamous for Left-wing extremism. She belongs to the Halba tribal community.
To help women like Ishwari earn a decent livelihood, a broom-making initiative was augmented here in 2018 by Stylo Mandavi, who was posted in the district as the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO).
“Many women were already into broom making (particularly phool jharu) when I was posted here. I wanted to help them more by streamlining the process. So, I gave the women a little bit of funding and with that they procured the grass required for the project and constructed a shed for their work. The Forest Department brought them under the umbrella of the Chhattisgarh State Minor Forest Produce (Trading & Development) Co-operative Federation Limited,” Stylo informs The Indian Tribal.
According to Stylo, the grass collection was carried out in Orchha, a block in the district, while the broom-making part happened in Narayanpur block.
Ishwari belongs to the Jagadamba Swah Sahayta Samuh, a Self-Help Group (SHG) which was roped in for the initiative. The women, altogether 10 in number, had been running the group since 2007 but did not have a proper management plan, and needed organisation.
“Earlier, we faced numerous challenges but now the women of the SHG are making through it. Each of us makes Rs Seven per broom as profit which are sold in the market at Rs 30-Rs 40,” Ishwari points out.
“Sometimes, traders come here to buy the jharus, and at times, we sell the items at haat bazaars, which are local weekly markets famous across Bastar. But we spend money on travel if we go ourselves. So, we have urged the traders to come to us,” she shares.
For making quality phool jharus, the hill broom grass is required in large quantities. Once, the women went to Orchha for buying the grass where it is found in plenty, Ishwari says adding now, it is bought from SHGs based there by the Forest Department.
Komal Usandi, who is in charge of the initiative as a Van Dhan manager, tells The Indian Tribal that she had visited Orchha several times to buy the grass. The Van Dhan scheme under TRIFED is active in 27 states and 307 districts of India. Its main aim is value addition and livelihood generation of tribal communities.
“The grass is brought on bikes as well as big vehicles and stored in Narayanpur so that the women can make use of it whenever they need. In a day, 10 quintals of grass are sometimes procured. It lasts somehow a month. The grass is priced at Rs 5,000 for one quintal (100 kg),” Komal, who has been in charge for over a year, maintains.
At present, four types of jharus are made by the women of the Jagadamba SHG. Of these, some brooms have plastic handles while others are just bound by hand. Besides the hill broom grass, other types of grasses are also used for making brooms.
Komal says that tall grasses which come up in the fields after paddy is harvested are also used by women. “One such type of grass in called Usri. But these are mainly for domestic use in tribal houses.”
Poornima Godra, a member of the Jagadamba SHG, informs that the group has been associated with the Forest Department for the past five years. “Some women in the group make 15 pieces whereas others make 20 in a day. The self-help group keeps a meticulous record of the sales,” she says.
The group has been there since 2007 but faced marketing issues. “Traders also paid us low prices for the jharus. After becoming associated with the department, we find it easy to sell off the items,” Poornima shares.
The women usually come by 10 am and leave at 5.30 pm, says Poornima, adding this way, they can look after their families and also make some extra money on the side.
In recent years, the earning has been decent but there is a need to further increase the profit margin even though the women are working hard. But given the area, the women are doing pretty good.
“Orchha is under the shadow of Left-wing extremism and is a difficult area to traverse. In many villages even entering is a problem,” says a forest officer, who was also once posted here, on the condition of anonymity.
Data reveals that from May to December 2023, jharus worth Rs 6,28,246 were sold. In all, 20,055 pieces were sold during the period.
(All Pics By Forest Department, Chhattisgarh)
