A group of 200 women of Reasi district have formed a self-help group and started “Duggardhani”, a restaurant serving ethnic Dogra cuisine. The women, who have received none or little formal education, say that they seldom stepped out of their houses before.
The idea was conceived by Indu Kanwal Chib, the director of national rural livelihood mission,.
These women were given away a run-down government building at Kheral on Shiv Khori road, 10 kms from the town.
They got it repaired and started the restaurant. It serves rice, rajmah, lassi, queer, curd and other ethnic Dogra foods at economical rates.
There are no tables and chairs in the restaurant and the visitors sit on the mattress with a choki to enjoy their meals.
Further, the vegetables served are grown organically on farms by these women. They are now mulling drawing wall paintings with literature scribbled on the walls, depicting Dogra culture.
The co-ordinator and head of the initiative, Anita Jamwal, 40, said, “We started the restaurant on May 16. Initially, we were associated with UMEED under national rural livelihood mission. An official, Jugal Kishore Malhotra, guided us to think of innovative ways to promote the culture.”
Jamwal, who has formed the self-help group “Naari Ke Pehchan”, that has 1,500 women contributing through handicrafts.
{{/usCountry}}Jamwal, who has formed the self-help group “Naari Ke Pehchan”, that has 1,500 women contributing through handicrafts.
{{/usCountry}}They earned ₹ 10 lakhs in less than three years. Their work was also appreciated by lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha.
“Subsequently, Duggardhani came into being and in one month, we made sales of over ₹2 lakh. Although we have five groups of 200 women each in toral, three of them are running the restaurant”.
Reasi district magistrate Babila Rakwal allotted a tourism department building for the restaurant. A sum of ₹ 5 lakh was also given for the repair and renovation of the building.
“On an average, 250 to 300 tourists visit the restaurant every day and the sales range between ₹15,000 and ₹ 30,000,” she added.
While vegetables are grown organically on the farms, the members pool money to buy groceries. They take home their share of money every weekend.
On an average, every member earns ₹8,000 to ₹10,000 a month.
Food is cooked over traditional chulhas using firewood.
Reasi deputy magistrate Babila Rakwal said, “Their USP is that Duggardhani is on the national highway with a parking space where ethnic food is provided at economical rates. Drivers who bring the tourists to the place get their food for free.”
Rakwal said that the administration plans to add more value to the place.
NRLM director Indu Kanwal Chib said, “the idea was to bring the women financially independent. Although computer training would not have, ethnic Dogra food, which they cooked all their lives, was an instant hit among them.”
Chib says, “A member told me that all she cooked Dogra food for her family and was seldom appreciated. Today she is cooking it for tourists and earning money too”.
“These women are now independent. They come in shifts to the restaurant. Soon, we are going to start an all-women UMEED kalari kulcha eatery at Tikri on the highway,” she added.
Chib added that, “Tourists are so fond of the restaurant that they tell the women to wait for them in the evening so that they can have dinner. I have asked them to start a tiffin service.”