Paalaguttapalli
(Dalitwada) , Pakala Mandalam, Chittoor Dt, AP 517152.
(Bags, Pickles and other livlihoods)
This is a
habitation of largely landless labourers, with about sixty households We moved to the village in 1995, in our
twenties, after resigning our jobs. Local concerns here ranged from dalit
issues to organic farming and swadeshi efforts. We
have engaged in personal capacity as one of the community and have not been an
NGO. Various interventions from ayurveda to afforestation to livlihoods have
been collectively done.
The village
has faced recurrent droughts over the last years, and agriculture has slowed
down and there is large scale underemployment. People survive by grazing a cow or two, and
last year distress sale of cattle also began. We have been working together on
addressing the water situation through various rainwater harvesting processes, and
discussing cropping patterns that need less water - but other livelihood options
need to be worked out. The women make excellent pickles, and some of them
stitch well. We are looking at these initially.
Livlihood Creation
Pickles – the tomato pickles
are made by a process of sun drying the tomatoes, grinding
on the stone with tamarind and then pickling with oil without using any
preservatives. The result is a very tasty pickle, unique to this area. The pickles are lip smacking. They are costed
at 350/- per kg.
Bags – Four women tailor and have
machines These nice sized shopping bags - 17" by 14" - would
cost 30/- to 40/- depending on the volumes.
When Annapurna made the first batch of 100 bags. Rani came up and asked, "May I also stitch bags". The village people only seek honest work, and we need to work out orders.
People can give these as gifts, or distribute so that these
cloth bags may be used instead of plastic covers. If there could be orders from
bigger supermarkets or chains it would be a sustained employment.
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