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A forest department official said that there was an average of ₹10,000 sale at the shop every day
A forest department official said that there was an average of ₹10,000 sale at the shop every day
After the successful launch of ‘Chilla’, a market exclusively for selling the produce of tribespeople, Marayur Sandalwood Division has launched ‘Ila’, a shop selling consumer items to tribespeople.
Set up in the same building which houses the weekly market ‘Chilla’, ‘Ila’ functions on a ‘no profit, no loss’ basis and the products will be sold at the minimum price. Though the ‘Chilla’ market functions every Thursday, ‘Ila’ is open every day, said Marayur divisional forest officer M.G. Vinodkumar.
During the COVID-19 period, the functioning of the ‘Chilla’ market was disrupted and the tribespeople faced a lot of hardships, prompting the authorities to launch ‘Ila’.
At ‘Chilla’, one can buy vegetables and tubers organically produced by the tribespeople and it has takers even from far away places. It ensured a remunerative price to tribespeople while the buyers get the quality produce.
A minimum price is fixed at the auction and the officials of the forest department intervene to buy the produce in case a remunerative price is not quoted. Everything produced by the tribespeople including cattle and chicken is brought for sale in ‘Chilla’ on every Thursday.
‘Ila’ was started at an amount of ₹10 lakh provided by the Kerala Forest Development Agency. Those bringing produce to ‘Chilla’ can buy items from ‘Ila’ at a pay later scheme. This is in addition to the 219 forest watchers employed in the division. The payments to the forest watchers are not regular and they will now get consumer items without ready cash.
A section officer and a lady beat officer are in charge of the ‘Ila’ shop. A forest department official said that there was an average of ₹10,000 sale at the shop every day.
Marayur Sandalwood Division is known for the large extraction of natural lemongrass oil. There are a number of individual units in the forest for extracting lemongrass oil. Large areas are cultivated with lemongrass, which helps in preventing soil erosion. Lemongrass oil is a major product of tribespeople.
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