A tribal woman sells leaf plates at Sakchi market on Sunday. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Villagers of Kolhan will soon turn over a new leaf and in the process make a living out of it.

The forest department has decided to train 370 villagers of Dhalbhum and Seraikela divisions on how to make plates from sal and mahua leaves as part of a livelihood programme that also envisages plantation drives on 300 hectares spread over 15 hamlets. But till the plants grow up and bear leaves, villagers have to procure raw materials from nearby forests.

The beneficiaries have already been identified. They will be divided into self-help groups and imparted lessons on leaf plate-making.

The forest department has ordered six machines per village or per group, which will be donated to the self-help groups. Costing Rs 16,000 each, the machines have been designed by a team at IIT-Kharagpur in Bengal and will be manufactured at Kharagpur itself.

“The identification process has already been completed and we have placed orders for the machines that will arrive soon. Under the project, training will be conducted for one or two days,” said Sanjeev Kumar, Dhalbhum-based conservator of forest (afforestation circle, Jamshedpur).

The minor forest produce yielding plants that will be planted are arjun, kusum, palash and bamboo. Kumar explained that once the plants grow up, the villagers can also breed lac and silk worms on them. Besides, they can make bamboo products.

“The rule is that residents of those villages where plantation drives will be taken up have to be covered under the livelihood programme. We are waiting for the machines to reach the city after which, we will kick off the training programme followed by production. Mostly, unemployed men and especially women are being roped in,” said A.T. Mishra, DFO, Dhalbhum and Seraikela forest division.

Once production starts, the forest department will try to find a market for the products.