Tribal women in Telangana’s Bhadrachalam script success story baking millet biscuits

The members of Srirama Joint Liability Group with the assistance of Bhadrachalam Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) recently started a unit making ragi and jowar biscuits. The group has been making about five kilograms of biscuits every day

Kothagudem: A women’s group at Bhadrachalam in Kothagudem district has been making strides towards self-reliance and financial stability by baking healthy millet snacks.

The members of Srirama Joint Liability Group with the assistance of Bhadrachalam Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) recently started a unit making ragi and jowar biscuits. ITDA supplied equipment and offered training in Hyderabad to make the biscuits.

---

The group has been making about five kilograms of biscuits every day. The products are being sold with the brand name Bhadradri Millet Magic in Kothagudem and Bhadrachalam and efforts are on to market them in Khammam as well, informed the group members.

A team leader of the group Uke Venkata Lakshmi told Telangana Today that there has been an increase in demand for ragi and jowar biscuits and to meet the demand they are planning to purchase a larger oven with which nearly 600 biscuits could be baked per batch. The ingredients used in making the biscuits are completely healthy and no artificial preservatives are used. Ragi flour, jowar flour, butter, ghee, and jaggery are used to make biscuits.

The consumer base includes traders from Bhadrachalam and the residents. The biscuits are also being shipped to consumers in London as the consumers who tasted the biscuits during their visit to Bhadradri Temple were impressed with their quality and wanted them dispatched to their place, she explained.

Another team leader of the group T Lalitha said they are planning to sell the biscuits by setting up a stall at Bhadradri Temple and Khammam collectorate. The biscuit unit was started following advice from former ITDA project officer Prateek Jain.

The group initially was engaged in making sanitary pads with brand name ‘Giri sanitary pads’ under the supervision of Bhadradri Srirama Sanitary Napkin Unit. It was set up seven years ago with a project cost of Rs 13.45 lakh. The sanitary pads are being supplied to girls hostels under the Bhadrachalam ITDA also to hostels in Mulugu, Eturnagaram and Nalgonda, she added.