Grass brooms empower tribal women in Odisha; venture clocks Rs 45 lakh annual turnover

Jaya Kumari Saraka’s hands deftly move around kandis drawn from long blades of a special variety of hill grass found in the forests of Rayagada district in Odisha. She arranges them into a clump and puts the rear end into a plastic pipe, turning it into a hill broom.

She makes about 100 brooms of different varieties at the multi-purpose processing unit in Bissamkatak block headquarters. They are sold under the ‘Pallishree’ brand name and provide a steady source of income for Jaya, who belongs to the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) of the Dongaria Kondh community.

Empowering tribal women

Members of 13 PVTGs of Odisha face challenges of geographical isolation, limited access to resources, and lower socio-economic development compared to other tribal communities. Their empowerment is necessary for equitable development and preserving cultural diversity.

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Dongaria Kondhs mostly live in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts and the tribe comprises several sub-tribes like Languli, Kuttia, Penga, Kovi and Jharnia. Their mother tongue is Kui, an ancient Dravidian dialect.

“I work for 15 to 20 days a month to make hill brooms at the multi-purpose processing unit managed by Dharatipenu Farmers Producer Company Ltd (DFPCL) in Rayagada district headquarters,” says Jaya.

“I earn around Rs 7,000 every month. It is a big addition to the average annual income of about Rs 20,000 from our paddy and lentil fields,” Jaya adds.

She is married to a primary school teacher Tinu Saraka in Bukumpand village under the Bissamkatak block.    

Like Jaya, over 300 tribal women of the Dongaria Kondh community in 10 villages under Kashipur, Bissamkatak, Muniguda and Rayagada blocks now have a stable source of income from hill brooms.

The tribal women collect hill grass from the nearby forest upland between February and March. The grass grows thickly and does not flower during this time. Flowering weakens the grass, which renders it unfit for making the brooms.

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“We go to collect hill grass at the crack of dawn. Then we pull out the kandis and sun-dry them for four to five days before binding them into bunches to make varieties of brooms,” says Shanti Sikaka, a resident of the village of Dhobagudi under Muniguda block. 

Each handmade broom weighs 400 grams to 480 grams. “We start working from May onwards in groups of six or seven,” she says.

Earlier, the women used to make hill brooms by binding a tuft of grass with the help of the strong bark of siali (creeper) stem that is also used to tie paddy straws in shaping out the thatched rooftops of tribals’ huts. 

However, after the intervention by the Rayagada branch of the state government’s Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS) and DFPCL about four years ago, the siali barks have been replaced with plastic, nickel pipes and cane ropes. The Balesore unit of the Bhubaneswar-based Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology supplies the pipes.  

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Nikunja Pradhan, the chief executive officer of DFPCL, says ten farmer producer groups are making hill brooms.

“Last year we sold over 60,000 pieces of different types of brooms. Annually, we increase the target for sale by 10,000 pieces. Last year we clocked an annual turnover of about Rs 45 lakh,” he says.

ORMAS trained the tribal women in broom-making for 20 days and set up a multipurpose processing unit in Bissamkatak block headquarters and another smaller one at Anjiapeta near Rayagada district headquarters with the cooperation of the district administration. These two sites are the venues for making brooms and processing turmeric, tamarind and millets.

Marketing the brooms

“The multipurpose processing unit functions in a building in Bissamakatak, which was earlier abandoned. It was given to ORMAS by the district administration. Similarly, we converted our unused warehouse into a multipurpose processing unit near Rayagada district headquarters,” says Manoj Patra, the deputy chief executive officer of ORMAS, Rayagada.

“We not only help sell the brooms at different fairs and festivals, but supply them to Tribal Development Co-operative Corporation of Odisha Ltd. (TDCCOL) that sells them through its retail outlets called ‘Tribal World’,” he adds.

DFPCL, formed the umbrella of ORMAS, has also had its online sale of brooms through Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), Government e-Marketplace (GeM) and Amazon India. 

The production cost of each broom varies between Rs 65 and Rs 70, and its selling prices range between Rs 68 and Rs 90. “We keep two per cent as profit margin, a major part of which is utilised to meet production cost, to pay GST and to meet other miscellaneous expenditures,” Nikunja adds.   

Like ORMAS, TDCCOL also sells the brooms under its own banner at various fairs and exhibitions. It also markets them through its retail outlets ‘Tribal World’ in Bhubaneswar, Rourkela, Baripada and other places.

“We supply nearly 3,000 hill brooms annually to our Bhubaneswar-based headquarters depending on the market demand,” says Ravindra Kumar Behera, the TDCCOL field officer in Rayagada.

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Besides procuring DFCPCL’s hill brooms, TDCCOL also makes brooms using hill grass purchased from 30 women self-help groups at the government-fixed rate of Rs 50 per kg. On average, nearly three tons of hill grass are purchased annually to be sent to ‘Tribal World’ and to the Bhubaneswar-based headquarters of TDCCOL where brooms are made. The broom costs between Rs 70 and Rs 90 at ‘Tribal World’.  

When ORMAS, TDCCOL and DFPCL are collectively run the hill broom cottage industry, tribal women like Malati Mutika of Karada village under Rayagada block have their independent trade. They mostly sell their hill brooms to the traders from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. “When the season is on, nearly four to five traders from Andhra Pradesh purchase different types of my hill brooms at Rs. 70 to Rs. 100. Thus I earn up to Rs. 10,000 every month on average,” says Malati.  

(Niroj Ranjan Misra is a Cuttack-based freelance writer. He writes on rural and tribal life, social issues, art and culture, and sports.)

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