For the first time in the district, koraga women have begun producing chikki, a traditional Indian sweet composed primarily of nuts and jaggery, through the Sanjeevini self-help group under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). The unit, which is located in the Koraga Colony in Padebettu village, was recently formally inaugurated.
Naveen Bhat Y, the CEO of Udupi, has promised to assist the women's SHG by urging government departments to purchase chikki. "At zilla panchayat meetings, serve chikki instead of biscuits. For all zilla panchayat meetings till the group formally joins up with anganwadis, chikki produced by these women will be purchased, assisting them in base level marketing." He also asked gramme panchayats and taluk panchayats to get chikki from Koraga women and serve it at meetings.
Six women were taught last year, and the unit was put up at a cost of Rs 6.9 lakh through the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) and the local panchayat, according to Prabhakar Achar, district programme manager, NRLM. The demand for chikki is high. Now, based on demand, government departments will acquire the same, and we plan to enhance with machinery installation, he said.
The women that make the chikki are in their 30s and 40s. They formed Sri Subrahmanya Sanjeevini Self Help Group, which eventually amalgamated with Sanjeevini-Karnataka State Rural Livelihood Promotion Society, a government body in charge of administering the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) in the state. They currently produce roughly 10 kg of chikki every day. Meanwhile, Koraga women in Byndoor will begin creating areca plates in the near future.
