Bastar: Meet Apurva Tripathi, the founder of MD Botanicals, a lady with a vision to empower women on the work front. She heads an organic herbal product firm based in Chhattisgarh. The company’s staff makes it a unique enterprise, where the tribals of Bastar, enriched with ancient knowledge of healing arts and health practices helm the venture.
“These people are not getting their share of royalty and credit, said Tripathi who is a lawyer who grew up with tribals. MD Botanicals also uses Bastar’s tribal art on its product packaging. Tripathi says it’s a way to inform the masses that the herbal formulation actually belongs to the people of Bastar, adding that over 40 per cent of the company’s income goes to tribal people, whom she calls ‘associate farmers’.
On the eve of Women’s Day, the Baghel led govt launched the ‘Kaushalya Matritva Yojana’ and gave away cheques of Rs 5,000 each to five women beneficiaries for safe motherhood at a state-level conference.
Under this scheme, financial assistance of Rs 5000 will be given to women on the birth of second girl child. “Now the women of Chhattisgarh will also manufacture paint and produce electricity from cow dung. It will boost the income of women and create employment opportunities. Gauthans are being developed into rural industrial parks. On the occasion of ‘Teeja-Pora’, the state government has also waived loans of Rs 13 crore of Self-Help Groups and doubled their loan limit through Mahila Kosh,” said Baghel at the conference.
Anganwadi workers, officials doing excellent work in the direction of women protection under ‘Sakhi One Stop Center’ and ‘Nava Bihan Yojana’ were also felicitated during the event.