Jeypore: Even though the market as well as his body doesn’t support him, Budura Harijan, a differently-abled person, sales products made of bamboo by moving door to door at Jeypore town in Koraput.
Harijan, who hails from Bada Pindapadar village in Borigumma block, makes various products from bamboo and sales them in Koraput, Jeypore, Umerkot, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur and earns his living from it.
Sometimes he also visits Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh to sale the products as the market and demand for these products are bigger than Odisha market, says Harijan.
Harijan collects bamboos from nearby jungle and then cuts it into small pieces before polishing these small pieces. Later, he turns these bamboo pieces into beautiful products like flowers, flower vases, peacocks, small houses, mobile phone holders, pen stands and other home decorating articles with his magical hands. His wife also helps in making these products.
It takes at least eight days to make a pair of bamboo flower vases of two feet height, which he sales at a cost of Rs 1,000 in the market.
The district as well as the state lacks in creating a proper market for bamboo products. The demand for such products in the market is poor while the neighbouring states have more demand for these products. However, the livelihood could be made alive if more demands for such products in market could be created, says Harijan.
PNN