An Eco-Friendly Craft To Boost Employment At Toshali Mela

Bhubaneswar: Driven by the zeal to preserve screwpine craft (the art of making different materials from screwpines), Amit and Basumita are exhibiting an eco-friendly way to produce goods like bags, folders, pen-stands, kettles and many more at Toshali Mela here.

“I am on a mission to promote the craft and will not let it die. You won’t find anyone in Odisha producing goods using screwpine,” said Amit.

According to Amit, the craft is in line with environment conservation and also boosts the scope for generating employment.

Their organization, ‘Nazariya’, works with 15 women from Berhampur district who used to do fishing, but now help them in manufacturing screwpine products. They earn between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000 per month and more if there is an increase in production.

Since the making does not involve the use of machinery, it involves a lot of human effort which increases cost due to less production. As a result, customers usually find the products to be priced on the higher side. “We support the conservation of environment, but spending Rs 300-350 for a bag does not seem worth it,” said Rekha Mohapatra, a visitor at the fair found bargaining over prices.

For each item sold, the owners keep only 10-15% profit to cover their cost, though that too becomes difficult at times. “If a customer appreciates art and genuinely thinks about the environment, then he/she will definitely go for screwpine products as they are one of the best alternatives to plastics,” averred Amit.

He is hopeful that they would make a profit of about Rs 50,000 at Toshali Mela this time.

He revealed that they were looking for investors to fund their initiative which in a way will boost production and create employment for more people. “We will be able to loop in 50 more workers for the project next year,” he added.