Dung boosting economic prosperity in Chhattisgarh

<br>Unemployment, stray cattle and dung littering the roads are three amid the myriad challenges facing the country. To deal with these three challenges, the Chhattisgarh government has adopted Godhan Nyay Yojana, under which gothans (place where cattle are brought during the day and provided food, water and other facilities) are built.

Under the scheme, dung is purchased at Rs 2 per kg for making vermi-compost, earthen pots, incense, pots and ‘gaukasht’ (cowdung logs). Due to the scheme, on the one hand cattle farmers and dung collectors earn money while on the other hand, employment is generated.

As per government figures, over 2,80,000 cattle farmers are registered. Of them, two lakh farmers sold dung, leading to the purchase of 59 lakh quintals of dung.

With dung purchased by the committees, 10,10,555 quintal vermi-compost has been made and 4,31,701 quintal super compost has been made.

With this business, Rs 48 crore was earned. Women roped in for making vermi-compost have been given more than Rs 29 crore as dividend. Other related businesses also earned profits and people associated with it have been provided Rs 100 crore dividend.

Besides preventing crop damage by stray cattle, the scheme has provided employment too.

Durg district resident Bhojram Yadav said that in 2021, he earned Rs 27,000 by selling dung. From the earning, he purchased earrings costing Rs 14,000 for his wife. Overall, the scheme facilitated him to buy a memorable gift for his wife.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said that the scheme is being operated in mission mode, so that women self help groups in gauthans make products on demand and earn more and more benefits.

“After starting power generation from dung, we are moving towards making natural paints from dung. In the past one and a half years, gauthans have become financially strong,” Baghel said.

Along with speeding up the work of setting up rural industrial parks in gauthans, training will be given to women self help groups to prepare products as per market demand.

State Agriculture and Water Resources Minister Ravindra Chaubey said 10,591 gauthans have been sanctioned in the state of which 7,889 are actively functioning. Income will increase with the commissioning of all gauthans.

Chemical compost and super compost have played an important role in meeting the shortage of Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertiliser.

–IANS<br>snp/svn/bg