The same women whose lives were ruined by Naxals are now bringing happiness to people’s lives by making herbal gulaal

Women of Naxal-affected village left the village due to fear of Naxalites, earning thousands of rupees by making roses on the occasion of Holi for the last five years

Women of self-help group are making herbal gulal from flowers and vegetables for Holi

Raipur 8 March 2025: Naxalites had made the lives of many women living in the camp of Naxal-affected Panchayat Bhairamgarh of Bijapur district colorless. To save their lives, these women left their village and are now adding color to the lives of people by making herbal gulal. These women have been doing this work without any problem for the last five years and are talking about doing it in the coming years. Under the Bihan program in Bhairamgarh of Bijapur district, the women of Maa Durga Mahila Self Help Group have been becoming self-reliant by making herbal gulal for the last five years. This time the people of Bijapur will play Holi with herbal colors and gulal made by them. The demand for herbal gulal made by these women is also very high. Many people are also giving them orders for gulal. Here, District Panchayat CEO Puneet Ram Sahu said that women are being encouraged to make herbal gulaal. Taking advantage of this, these women have been making gulaal and selling it in the market for the last five years. Every year they are feeding their families by selling more than 50 kg of gulaal. At present, there are 10 women in this group. Herbal gulaal is being prepared from different flowers.

The women of this self-help group are preparing colours for Holi from different flowers and vegetables. These women are preparing herbal gulaal from palak bhaji, red bhaji, tesu flowers, marigold flowers. These women have already been trained by the administration. In the last five years, these women have sold about 150 kg of gulaal. The special thing is that this herbal gulaal does not harm people’s faces. This is the reason why people are ordering it in advance. Development block project manager Rohit Sori said that the women of the group are from Itampar village which is on the other side of Indravati river. Due to Naxal violence, these women have left the village and are currently living in the camp of Bhairamgarh. These women have been given accommodation by the district administration. Sori said that apart from this, these women are earning their livelihood by doing different businesses. Demand for herbal gulal is high Self help group’s president Fagni Kawasi and secretary Anita Karma said that earlier training for making herbal gulal was given by the district administration. The colors made here are completely natural. We are preparing different colors from flower petals, spinach, red vegetables, turmeric, gram flour and Palash flowers. Demand for the herbal gulal made by us is also very high. Due to this we have been doing this work for the last five years. The women told that their gulal is being sold by setting up stalls at various places in the market as well as in the district panchayat. They are also generating good income from this.