Eco-friendly rakhis made out of seeds are impressing Raksha Bandhan shoppers this year. The rakhis, manufactured by rural women working under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), are available at Vikas Bhavan in Ghaziabad.
Asmita Lal, Chief Development Officer, Ghaziabad told TDG, “With the festive season coming ahead, we thought of NRLM putting up its products in the market to promote less use of plastics and manpower from rural India. With help from selfhelp groups we created these seed rakhis, which consist of the seeds of wheat, rice, soya bean, barley, , mustard, muskmelon, dried flowers.”
The rakhis which are on sale at Vikas Bhavan are priced between Rs 14 and Rs 40. They have been in such high demand that production has not stopped since it started two months ago.
According to Lal, women in rural India have enormous potential to earn and become self-reliant. “The Rural Development & Self Employed Training Institute (RDSETI) provides them with proper training and innovative ideas so that they can feel pride and create something which promotes “aatmanirbharta” and replaces foreign-made products,” she said.
“Since the pandemic started, we have also created embroidered Khadi masks and hand wash for sanitation. NRLM has stepped up on every occasion to create something innovative and bring opportunities for rural women,” she added.