Children’s education is becoming easier due to tendu leaf remuneration: Rakeshwari Dhruv

Rakeshwari Dhruv of village Soram tells that she goes to pluck tendu leaves and also works in the forest. She told that earlier she used to get 4 thousand rupees per standard bag for collecting tendu leaves, now she is getting 5 thousand 500 rupees, with which she meets the family expenses and is also spending the money on children’s education and other essential needs. For this she thanked the Chief Minister of the state Shri Vishnu Deva Sai. Rs. 13 crore 2 lakh 23 thousand 940 has been paid to 29 thousand 830 collectors of Dhamtari district.

Collection of tendu leaves, known as green gold, is a supplementary source of income in rural areas in addition to agriculture. In Chhattisgarh, tendu leaves are collected on a large scale as minor forest produce. Lakhs of villagers are directly associated with this work. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Shri Vishnudev Sai, tendu leaf collectors of Chhattisgarh state are now being paid Rs 5500 per standard sack, due to which collectors are getting Rs 1500 more than the earlier Rs 4000 per standard sack, due to which the income of collectors from tendu leaf collection has increased.