KALABURAGI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Mann ki Baat address on Sunday, mentioned Kalaburagi rottis and within hours, the Kalaburagi Rotti Producers Cooperative Society received over 60 orders through Amazon.
The Society, which supports hundreds of women in Kalaburgi district who make jowar rottis, has received orders for 1,000 rottis (60 orders) and the number was only increasing. The Society buys rottis from women self-help groups in different villages of Kalaburagi district and dispatches them through e-commerce platforms.
Ningamma of Nandi Basaveshwara Rotti Kendra at Kotnur village on the outskirts of Kalaburgi city was pleased that the prime minister mentioned Kalaburagi rottis.
‘PM’s mention will help poor women’
Ningamma said they were all housewives earlier, but have now become entrepreneurs because of the help extended by the district administration, which provided them with loans to purchase rotti-making machines through the society. The society is also buying back the rottis they make, she added.
Ningamma also remembered the article published by The New Indian Express in its June 1 edition and she felt it helped increase the recognition for Kalaburagi rotti. Sharanamma, who runs the Maata Mallamma Rotti Kendra at Chittapur, said she was thrilled that the Prime Minister mentioned Kalaburagi rottis. “This is an honour. This will definitely help poor women of the district,” she said.
Both Ningamma and Sharanamma thanked The New Indian Express. They said the article created much awareness about their product and effort.
Talking to TNIE then, Society president Sharanu R Patil had said the Income Tax Department in Bengaluru had come forward to provide a 10x10 sqft space to the society to open an outlet on its office premises. If that materialises, Bengaluru will have a second franchise of Kalaburagi rotti, he said.
Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner Fouzia Taranum said the PM’s mention of the rottis has increased the responsibility of the district administration. “This will help women in the Kalaburagi district increase their income. We will widen the network of women self-help groups and improve the market wherever possible,” she added.
Agriculture Department Joint Director Samad Patel hoped that the Mann ki Baat mention would boost the production of jowar in Kalaburagi district.