Woman tendupatta (tendu leaf) collectors in Chhattisgarh will now get a pair of chappals instead of shoes. Under the charan-paduka (footwear) scheme, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state is providing a pair of shoes to tendupatta collectors to facilitate smooth movement inside the forests. The scheme was launched in November 2005.
Under the scheme, a male member from each family engaged in plucking green-gold in the forests was covered in the scheme and was given a pair of shoes every year. In all, 1.3 million families were listed to get the benefits of the scheme.
In the first two years, only male members were given shoes. In 2008, the state government included woman in the scheme. In 2008-09 and 2009-10, only woman member in the family was given shoes under the scheme. But women wearing the shoes and trudging down the forest lanes on job were finding it uncomfortable. During a function held in Dongargaon town (in Rajnandgaon district, about 120 km from here) to distribute shoes to the beneficiaries, the women members pleaded before Chief Minister Raman Singh to replace the shoes with chappals, A K Singh, Managing Director of Chhattisgarh Minor Forest Produce Cooperative Federation told Business Standard.
The Chief Minister assured that from the next tendupatta season, the woman members collecting and plucking tendupatta would get a pair of chappals instead of shoes. The federation officials have been asked to make necessary arrangement in this regard, Singh said, adding that tenders would be floated soon to invite proposals from the company.
The federation, on behalf of forest department, had been purchasing the casual canvas walking shoes with direct injected expanded PVC sole for the beneficiaries. The department had made budgetary provision for the scheme. In the current financial year 2010-11, a sum of Rs 10 crore had been earmarked for the same.