PUNJAB: A round 3,555 members of 257 active Self-Help Groups (SHG) — a majority of them being women homemakers hailing from the villages of SAS Nagar, Hoshiarpur, Dasuya and Pathankot forest divisions of Punjab — are creating a silent revolution through their organic products sold under the brand name ‘Van Utpatti’.
They make face and skin products, Holi colours, edible products such as morabba (fruit preserves), pickles and sweets, bamboo products, cloth bags, and leaf plates used to serve food during social gatherings — and find their annual turnover running into lakhs of rupees.
It was about five years ago that the state forest department formed these SHGs. Currently, there are around 20 active SHGs linked to the Joint Forest Management Committee under the SAS Nagar forest division with a total head count of 150 women, with each group hosting 5-15 women. The Hoshiarpur division has around 63 SHGs, Dasuya 99 and Pathankot 75, with 10-20 members in each group.
“These SHGs were formed a few years ago to open up entrepreneurial opportunities for the local community residing in and around the forest areas. The SHGs are assisted and guided by two facilitators employed under the SAS Nagar forest division. They facilitate the manufacture and sale of products to help make it self-sustaining for the members,” said RK Mishra, principal chief conservator of forest, Punjab.
Various schemes of forest department, such as the Green India Mission under CAMPA, has created capital assets in the form of machinery and collection centres for these SHGs, said Mishra, adding, “We will forge market linkages with private players to give further boost to sell the products to a wider range of customers across the country.”
Kanwar Deep Singh, divisional forest officer of SAS Nagar, explained the uniqueness of the products these rural women make. For instance, a rakhi from seeds collected from the forest. The thread is made of the local bhabar grass, making it fully organic and eco-friendly. The rakhi can be disposed off later, and the seeds can grow into a tree. “Last year, the women sold rakhis at a stall set up in Phase
VII of Mohali. We plan to do the same this year as well,” Singh said.
Another of their products caters to the Holi festival. Organic colours made from arrowroot, local leaves and natural colouring materials from forest areas get sold out before the festival. “This year, we plan to increase the product quantity,” Singh said.
Eco-friendly cloth bags are yet another creation. The members were given automatic sewing machines this year, which helped them manufacture more bags compared to last year. “As a result, the groups have got several orders from various industries and shops, who want to switch from plastic bags to these eco-friendly bags,” Singh explained.
Kuljeet Kaur, a member of one of the SHGs, is a qualified naturopathic expert, who creates organic skin products from soil, leaves, plant extracts and flowers. Presently, the forest department is in the process of providing certification for her products. “We are getting benefitted as we go to exhibitions. We sell them at stalls put up by the department on various festivals, this widens our customer base,” Kaur said. Nirmal Dogra, a member of the Nada SHG, said they make designer bags that have seen an overwhelming response from customers. “With good response from the public, we are encouraged to further innovate on the products. The women earn anywhere between Rs 10,000 and Rs 25,000 per month. I myself earn Rs 20,000-Rs 25,000. Our SHG makes pickles from mango, lemon and red and green chilies, as well as mango and garlic chatnis. They get sold in no time. We now get orders for 5-10 kg of pickles. We have sold pickles for more than Rs 50,000. The women get orders for cloth bags, priced Rs 30-Rs 500 per bag. More than 5,000 bags have been sold,” she said.
“We are trying to tie up with Khadi Board to further connect the SHGs to a bigger market,” said Singh, explaining, “The net sale of these groups was Rs 50,000-Rs 1 lakh two years ago. It is around Rs 5 lakh this year.”
The forest department stresses on capacity-building in domains like pickle making, sewing and manufacture of bamboo products to make the SHGs up to date with the latest market technology. They have also helped them with a dona plate-making machine this year.