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Uttar Pradesh women crafting bamboo rakhis for Rakshabandhan
This is the first time that bamboo rakhis are being made in the state, said a state government spokesperson.
Women associated with the National Bamboo Mission in Gorakhpur are crafting bamboo rakhis for this Rakshabandhan festival.
This is the first time that bamboo rakhis are being made in the state, said a state government spokesperson.
Rakshabandhan would be celebrated in the second week of August and the Gorakhpur forest department has decided to get women to craft these bamboo rakhis worth ₹1 lakh for the occasion.
This is part of a mission, combining the ‘vocal for local’ mantra with the economic empowerment of women.
These rakhis are being made at the common facilities centre’s (CFC) women self-help group (SHG) in Laxmipur in Campierganj, said a government spokesperson adding the eco-friendly bamboo rakhis would become a basis for economic self-reliance for many women.
“The idea for innovation crossed the mind as the chief minister Yogi Adityanath often inspires us for trying out new things and we thought that eco-friendly bamboo rakhis could be made and if it works, then it will also help in augmenting the income of women and people too would get an eco-friendly rakhis option. So, we engaged in the experiment at the Bamboo Mission’s CFC. We discussed it with women SHG associated with the CFC. They agreed to translate the idea into a reality. We provided them with the raw material and now bamboo rakhis are being made,” The divisional forest officer (DFO), Gorakhpur, Vikas Yadav, said in the government statement.
The CFC in Laxmipur in Campierganj was established under the National Bamboo Mission and it trains women in making bamboo toys, gift items, jewellery etc.
The spokesperson said that once the SHG agreed to undertake the project, its women made a dozen designs for mass production.
“The bamboo rakhis will be displayed for sale at the stall of the National Bamboo Mission at the Gorakhpur zoo. On July 29, at the World Tiger Day event at Yogiraj Baba Gambirnath auditorium, the rakhis will be displayed for sale. These rakhis will be on the display at the Gorakhpur zoo even after the Rakshabandhan to help step up its demand for the next year,” the DFO added in the press statement.
