Sajanagad: The livelihood of hundreds of tribal people depending on making leaf plates and bowls is going through a crisis in Sajanagad area in Balasore due to lack of proper marketing facility and government support.
According to reports, Nilagiri is a hilly and tribal-dominated area. Thousands of tribals live in 25 panchayats at the foothills of Kuladiha sanctuary. Collecting sal leaves from forests and making bowls and plates is their daily chore.
They sell the leaf products in the local bazaar and market. They keep their pot boiling with whatever they earn from it. They have been doing this traditional occupation for generations.
But time has changed. Their income has allegedly declined and they find it difficult to manage their family expenses. With their age-old occupation in crisis, they are looking at the option of leaving their hearth to work in other states.
Take the case of Hatikuti village in Sajanagad panchayat. Sal leaf collection and sale had been a cottage industry. About 70 out of 130 families living in the village are into this traditional occupation.
Every morning, they go into forests and return home carrying loads of sal leaves. At home, they make plates and bowls. They sell their product twice a week in the market.
Sadly, what they get from selling leaf plates is too meagre in commensurate with the time and labour they invest in collecting leaves and making them plates.
“A bundle of 100 leaf plates is sold for only Rs 20 while 100 leaf bowls fetch only Rs 10,” they said.
They lamented the fact that at this time of spiraling prices, managing the family expenses with such meagre earnings from leaf plate sales is a difficult proposition.
“The government has not paid any attention to their plight and created the right marketing facility for them so that they can get right price for their produce. If the government does this, hundreds of poor tribal families will benefit from it,” said villagers Ananta Biswal, Indramani Khalpalia, Subuni Madhei, Basanti Nayak, Sumati Khandhei, Harshmani Biswal and Abhi Madhei. PNN