BELAGAVI: Paper back! That is what he believes in. No wonder, because he comes from the paper industry and knows how useful leftover paper is. This 63-year-old Belagavi man who retired four years ago from the paper making industry decided to do something for his earning and also help the society. Today, thousands of students in Belagavi are benefited by the services of this man. Subhash Mallannavar, a resident of Chennamma Nagar in Belagavi, has a small workshop in the basement of his residence. He has procured machines and tools for his work. He collects leftover papers from newsprint rims and makes notebooks out of them.
He has been making books of 100 and 200 pages, A4 size papers and long sheets that are in great demand from the engineering students.A king-sized 200-page notebook will cost you anywhere between `40 and `45, but Mallannavar requests the shopkeepers to sell it at `20. In the last four years, Mallannavar has made 40 bookshops in Belagavi as permanent customers and his ‘sasta’ (low-priced) notebooks are in great demand.
He has worked in Dandeli’s West Coast Paper Mills and other companies.
The waste paper from the newsprint is used in sari making industries for packing purposes. Also, many students from the neighbourhood used to come to his workshop asking for binding of plain sheets.
“I realised that students need lot of papers but the high quality page notebooks are costing more. Then, I decided to make pages out of the same paper and it clicked. Later, I procured machines from Rajasthan and Maharashtra to make ruled-notebooks. I purchased all the machines second hand. In a month, I make about 1,000 books including 100 and 200 pages,” he says.
The A4 sheets created by waste paper are in great demand from the engineering students. “Many students came asking for papers of A4 size. The bundle which I sell, is half of the market price. Hence, many college students came asking for A4 size papers and long sheets. Besides selling 100 pages notebook at `15 and 200 pages book at `200, I donate books to government schools and orphanages,” he adds.
Mallannavar takes care of the printing and selling business single-handedly.
He is now a known face among bookshops who say, though the profit margin in selling Mallannavar’s books is less, many students come asking for the books.“The idea is to provide books at a lower price as I am creating the books from the waste paper. The cover on each book costs me `2.20 which I procure from Tamil Nadu. The newsprint rims are auctioned and I collect my raw material from them. As I work alone I am happy with thousand books per month,” he says.
A FAN OF MODI
Mallannavar is a fan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The brand of his notebooks created from waste papers has been named after ‘Lotus’, the party symbol of Bharatiya Janata Party. “The Prime Minister is a hard worker. I am doing something for the society and it’s a ‘Make in India’ idea that I am following,” he says.
It’s a great service to society. Mallannavar believes that he must not take higher margin of profit in the books that he provides. Many students come asking for the books and A4 sheets prepared by Mallannavar.A shopkeeper at Gondali Galli in Belagavi