RANCHI: Jharkhand’s rural development department has decided to promote ‘Hodopathy’, a traditional medicinal system practiced by the state’s tribal community.
The practice of Hodopathy, which uses herbs to cure illnesses, has significantly decreased over the last few decades due to a decline in the availability of medicinal plants.
The Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS), under ‘Mahila Kisan Shashaktikaran Pariyojana’ (MKSP), will strive to revive the age-old traditional medicinal method by promoting medicinal gardens.
Under this initiative, saplings of the medicinal plants are being made available to women of Self Help Groups at subsidised rates.
Apart from improving the people’s immunity, those promoting the initiative say it creates job opportunities for hundreds of women living in the remote villages of Jharkhand.
Many women have already set up nurseries selling medicinal plants (medicinal garden) and are earning a living through them.
Anita Sanga, a resident of Birhu Badka Toli in the Maoist hotbed of Khunti, who has set up a medicinal garden under the initiative, said that it has brought huge profits for her.
“I set up the nursery for the first time last year, and a profit of Rs 2 lakh, besides keeping the coronavirus away during the pandemic. I also made other women aware about its usage due to which none of us had to visit hospitals even during the peak of the pandemic,” said Sanga.
Earlier, she used to sel forest produce to earn a living. But now, she sells more than 50 varieties of medicinal plants.
Lalita Devi from Bishunpur in Gumla also said she and her family succeeded in keeping the virus away by taking ‘kadha’ of medicinal plants, besides making money by selling it.
She is also engaged in works to make other women of her village aware of the benefits of medicinal plants, she said.
Officials said the initiative has been launched in 35 blocks of the state’s 17 tribal-dominated districts, involving more than 6,500 women from Self Help Groups.