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Mahua flower distress sale hits millions of KBK, W Odisha poor
April 07, 2011 5:48:52 AM
SUDHIR MISHRA | BALANGIR
Even as the Mahua flower, one of the major direct sources of livelihoods of millions of poor both in the KBK and western Odisha region and entwined with their social lives, its distress sale galore much to the chagrin of the ordinary man.
Thanks to the apathy of our planners, bureaucrats, Panchayati Raj representatives and civil society organisations as for them, it is amazingly a non-issue.
The Mahua tree is one of the nature's bounties and it is found exclusively in the KBK and western Odisha region which provides flower, Tol (the fruit portion of Mahua flower) and other utilities for around 30 years to the poor rural populace continuously.
Mahua flower starts falling naturally by the third week of February to April second week.
Almost all the village women, including children and male members collect it, dry it and sell it to the village businessman and local small traders as Mahua is virtually a ready cash.
In the rural areas of this region, the poor would go to their local grocery shops and make purchase of their necessary grocery items by bartering some Mahua flowers.
Prior to 2000, there was a different policy for the purchase of the Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) and there was a District-level Price Fixation Committee which comprised representatives of the OFDC, Forest Department, District Collector, TDCC and the private trader and the price was fixed at a district-level committee. However, there was no representation of the primary rural collectors in that committee.
The private parties were given lease of all the NTFPs of the forest.
As a result, whatever the traders quoted the price, that was final and the primary collectors had no choice there leaving them further exploited due to ignorance. However in 2000, the State Government gave the management responsibility of 59 NTFPs to the Panchayat and accordingly, any person who wants to purchase the NTFPs has to register with the Panchayat by paying Rs 100 per NTFP.
As the NTFP of 2000 did not specifically spell on who to decide and fix the price, the traders started purchasing arbitrarily and this led to protests by several concerned people and organisations.
Following the protests, the Government issued a circular that the Panchayat Samitis would decide the price and the Panchayat Samitis fixed the price in 2002.
However, the price fixation committee has not been functioning and meeting properly after 2002 leaving the primary collectors at the mercy of the fleecing traders once again.
Sources confided that the NTFP price fixation committee is supposed to sit in October, but is hardly done.
Even as the prices of all commodities are rising, the price of the Mahua flower per kg is hardly hovering between Rs 10 and 12 in the entire western Odisha and KBK region and even in some places, it is very less and below Rs 10.
In Balangir district, if the per kg Mahul (colloquial term) price is Rs 10 in Khaprakhol block, it is Rs 8-10 in Saintala block, informed Kulamani Sahu of RCDC.
In Kalahandi, the tribals used to sell it by maan (local means of measurement) which is equivalent to three kg and per maan, it is Rs 20 while calculating further makes it to Rs 6 per kg, informs Dilip Das of Kalahandi.
In Padampur sub-division of Bargarh district, the price prevailing there is around Rs 10 and immediately after collections, the poor collector sell it to the local grocer to buy their daily need items like soap, salt, spices and other things.
The poor have to sell the Mahua flower collected at a rate much below the fixed price to meet their daily needs.
It is futile to expect that the people would go to Paikmal, at least 20-30 km from their village and sell it.
The situation in far away Koraput district is not better either.
The price per quintal in the village area is around Rs 600 and Rs 6 per kg.
Around six lakh families collect Mahua during February to April and the average collection is around five-six quintals per family.
As per the current price, the average income per family is around Rs 3,000-3,500 points out, Bidyut Mohanty of Koraput.
The price goes up during June and July, but the poor tribals cannot afford to store it, he further said.
The so-called fixation rate is hardly functioning properly, Mohanty added.
The people also go for exchange of the Mahua for salt and dried fish at the weekly markets through the barter system where they give one Ada of Mahua for one Ada of salt.
And for the dried fish, it depends upon the bargaining skill of the purchaser, pointed out Dilip Das. The district committee of Kalahandi has not yet fixed the price of the NTFPs for this year. Though there is a provision under the NTFP Act to fix the price of NTFPs at the block level, it is not followed in Kalahandi and the rate is fixed at the district level committee.
The TDCC and other Government marketing agencies are not trading Mahua which gives free hand to the petty traders to exploit the primary collectors.
The Panchayats and other SHGs should come forward to purchase it and store it and they should sell it by June-July which would fetch them higher prices. The minimum support price for per kg Mahul should be at least Rs 20.
The Panchayat should purchase and keep its centres open all these days so that the primary collectors come to the Panchayats and sell it.
This would go a long way to prevent distress sale and provide direct benefit to the poor, opined Fakira Rout of SMPUP Padampur.
In some villages, the Antodaya-promoted SHGs should be encouraged to have licence from the Panchayat (NTFP licence) and keep it till the beginning of the monsoon following which it would fetch the double price, informed Dilip Das.
Though there was a weight loss due to storing it for a longer period, the SHGs earn a good profit out of the business.
During monsoon, the petty traders, engaged by the liquor brewing unit owners, come to the villages and purchase the stock for liquor distillation, Das further said.
Moreover, the price fixation time should be fixed by January 31 as the Mahul starts falling by February to have a realistic assessment of the likely Mahul production that year.
There is hardly any price fixation by the Panchayat Samiti while the Kuchia (petty) traders purchase it and sell it to the big traders.
The middlemen and traders are reaping all the benefits while the primary collectors are left high and dry. Collection of Mahul/Tol is also fraught with life risk at times.
"Even the villagers fall victim to bear attack," said advocate Dolamani Pradhan.
One Surendra Bariha (23) had gone to collect Tol from the forest at 4 pm on Friday. As Surendra did not return, the villagers searched frantically. However, the body of Surendra was found in a naal (brook) inside the Suliamal Jungle in Patnagarh.
A female elephant had reportedly trampled him before dragging him a long way.
Meanwhile, there has been a decline in the quantity of Mahul falling like the previous years. One could safely attribute it to the climate change and global warming, said an NGO activist.
Besides, the forest cover is also dwindling and the number of such trees also declining.
The number of Mahul trees is also declining due to the pressure of development and population explosion.
It is high time the Government, civil society organisation, media and other sectors took the issue seriously to fix a higher support price for the product so that the rural poor could get more money and improve their livelihood failing of which would make them more vulnerable to debt and exploitations and also loss of their source of livelihood.
| Back Mahua flower distress sale hits millions of KBK, W Odisha poor
April 07, 2011 5:48:52 AM
SUDHIR MISHRA | BALANGIR
Even as the Mahua flower, one of the major direct sources of livelihoods of millions of poor both in the KBK and western Odisha region and entwined with their social lives, its distress sale galore much to the chagrin of the ordinary man.
Thanks to the apathy of our planners, bureaucrats, Panchayati Raj representatives and civil society organisations as for them, it is amazingly a non-issue.
The Mahua tree is one of the nature's bounties and it is found exclusively in the KBK and western Odisha region which provides flower, Tol (the fruit portion of Mahua flower) and other utilities for around 30 years to the poor rural populace continuously.
Mahua flower starts falling naturally by the third week of February to April second week.
Almost all the village women, including children and male members collect it, dry it and sell it to the village businessman and local small traders as Mahua is virtually a ready cash.
In the rural areas of this region, the poor would go to their local grocery shops and make purchase of their necessary grocery items by bartering some Mahua flowers.
Prior to 2000, there was a different policy for the purchase of the Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) and there was a District-level Price Fixation Committee which comprised representatives of the OFDC, Forest Department, District Collector, TDCC and the private trader and the price was fixed at a district-level committee. However, there was no representation of the primary rural collectors in that committee.
The private parties were given lease of all the NTFPs of the forest.
As a result, whatever the traders quoted the price, that was final and the primary collectors had no choice there leaving them further exploited due to ignorance. However in 2000, the State Government gave the management responsibility of 59 NTFPs to the Panchayat and accordingly, any person who wants to purchase the NTFPs has to register with the Panchayat by paying Rs 100 per NTFP.
As the NTFP of 2000 did not specifically spell on who to decide and fix the price, the traders started purchasing arbitrarily and this led to protests by several concerned people and organisations.
Following the protests, the Government issued a circular that the Panchayat Samitis would decide the price and the Panchayat Samitis fixed the price in 2002.
However, the price fixation committee has not been functioning and meeting properly after 2002 leaving the primary collectors at the mercy of the fleecing traders once again.
Sources confided that the NTFP price fixation committee is supposed to sit in October, but is hardly done.
Even as the prices of all commodities are rising, the price of the Mahua flower per kg is hardly hovering between Rs 10 and 12 in the entire western Odisha and KBK region and even in some places, it is very less and below Rs 10.
In Balangir district, if the per kg Mahul (colloquial term) price is Rs 10 in Khaprakhol block, it is Rs 8-10 in Saintala block, informed Kulamani Sahu of RCDC.
In Kalahandi, the tribals used to sell it by maan (local means of measurement) which is equivalent to three kg and per maan, it is Rs 20 while calculating further makes it to Rs 6 per kg, informs Dilip Das of Kalahandi.
In Padampur sub-division of Bargarh district, the price prevailing there is around Rs 10 and immediately after collections, the poor collector sell it to the local grocer to buy their daily need items like soap, salt, spices and other things.
The poor have to sell the Mahua flower collected at a rate much below the fixed price to meet their daily needs.
It is futile to expect that the people would go to Paikmal, at least 20-30 km from their village and sell it.
The situation in far away Koraput district is not better either.
The price per quintal in the village area is around Rs 600 and Rs 6 per kg.
Around six lakh families collect Mahua during February to April and the average collection is around five-six quintals per family.
As per the current price, the average income per family is around Rs 3,000-3,500 points out, Bidyut Mohanty of Koraput.
The price goes up during June and July, but the poor tribals cannot afford to store it, he further said.
The so-called fixation rate is hardly functioning properly, Mohanty added.
The people also go for exchange of the Mahua for salt and dried fish at the weekly markets through the barter system where they give one Ada of Mahua for one Ada of salt.
And for the dried fish, it depends upon the bargaining skill of the purchaser, pointed out Dilip Das. The district committee of Kalahandi has not yet fixed the price of the NTFPs for this year. Though there is a provision under the NTFP Act to fix the price of NTFPs at the block level, it is not followed in Kalahandi and the rate is fixed at the district level committee.
The TDCC and other Government marketing agencies are not trading Mahua which gives free hand to the petty traders to exploit the primary collectors.
The Panchayats and other SHGs should come forward to purchase it and store it and they should sell it by June-July which would fetch them higher prices. The minimum support price for per kg Mahul should be at least Rs 20.
The Panchayat should purchase and keep its centres open all these days so that the primary collectors come to the Panchayats and sell it.
This would go a long way to prevent distress sale and provide direct benefit to the poor, opined Fakira Rout of SMPUP Padampur.
In some villages, the Antodaya-promoted SHGs should be encouraged to have licence from the Panchayat (NTFP licence) and keep it till the beginning of the monsoon following which it would fetch the double price, informed Dilip Das.
Though there was a weight loss due to storing it for a longer period, the SHGs earn a good profit out of the business.
During monsoon, the petty traders, engaged by the liquor brewing unit owners, come to the villages and purchase the stock for liquor distillation, Das further said.
Moreover, the price fixation time should be fixed by January 31 as the Mahul starts falling by February to have a realistic assessment of the likely Mahul production that year.
There is hardly any price fixation by the Panchayat Samiti while the Kuchia (petty) traders purchase it and sell it to the big traders.
The middlemen and traders are reaping all the benefits while the primary collectors are left high and dry. Collection of Mahul/Tol is also fraught with life risk at times.
"Even the villagers fall victim to bear attack," said advocate Dolamani Pradhan.
One Surendra Bariha (23) had gone to collect Tol from the forest at 4 pm on Friday. As Surendra did not return, the villagers searched frantically. However, the body of Surendra was found in a naal (brook) inside the Suliamal Jungle in Patnagarh.
A female elephant had reportedly trampled him before dragging him a long way.
Meanwhile, there has been a decline in the quantity of Mahul falling like the previous years. One could safely attribute it to the climate change and global warming, said an NGO activist.
Besides, the forest cover is also dwindling and the number of such trees also declining.
The number of Mahul trees is also declining due to the pressure of development and population explosion.
It is high time the Government, civil society organisation, media and other sectors took the issue seriously to fix a higher support price for the product so that the rural poor could get more money and improve their livelihood failing of which would make them more vulnerable to debt and exploitations and also loss of their source of livelihood.
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