TIRUNELVELI
After starting coaching classes for Kani tribal youth to enable them to crack competitive examinations being conducted by the Union and the State governments, Collector V. Vishnu has established a showroom in Palayamkottai for exclusively selling the products of ‘Kani’ tribal farmers living in the Western Ghats at four settlements.
The shop with native flavour has been created near Anna Stadium in Palayamkottai.
As the Kani people grow and harvest from the forest and sell 40 varieties of products, including honey, amla, cashew, pepper and jackfruit, Mr. Vishnu created facilities for them in Maharaja Nagar ‘Uzhavar Sandhai’ to sell these products. When the Kani farmers kept their products for sale at the farmers’ market, they could sell the entire lot, worth about ₹ 20,000 in just three hours.
The second leg of the sale also enjoyed excellent patronage from the consumers.
The Collector’s efforts also secured them ‘organic product’ tag after due inspection was done in the Kani tribes’ farms in the Western Ghats.
Sensing the market potential for the products of Kani tribes, Mr. Vishnu has created a shop in Palayamkottai to sell exclusively the Kani tribes’ products. The noteworthy feature of this shop is the way it has been created. Instead of using flashy cupboards to keep the products, neatly sliced bamboo sticks have been used to create the racks. And, the walls have also been painted in such a way to remind the ambience in which the Kani tribes live in the jungles.
“The Kani tribal youth are very much interested in getting trained in the coaching classes we organise for the competitive examinations. Hence, we’re now taking them to different places as ‘exposure visits’. Besides getting trained in the coaching classes, they should see the world outside the forest and equip themselves with the qualities the world is in now need of. I firmly believe that good number of Kani tribal youth getting trained in the coaching centre will certainly crack the competitive exams in near future. Now, to help the Kani tribal farmers, we’ve opened this shop with their native flavour,” said Mr. Vishnu.
After bringing the farm produce in a mini cargo vehicle, sanctioned recently by the NABARD, the Kani tribes sell their produce, all carrying ‘organic tag’.
“As we started selling our products from this new shop on ‘Independence Day, we sold products worth ₹ 14,000 on the first day. We expect excellent patronage in the days to come,” said Ganesa Moorthy, a Kani tribal youth who coordinates this business.