Death of a home industry?

GULBARGA: Shanappa Jamadar (whose surname is known as Khavva) of Sarasamba village in Aland taluk in Gulbarga district, who was a happy man selling Khavva in Hyderabad, Solapur and Gulbarga till recently, is a worried man now.He says he is facing difficulties in getting milk to prepare Khavva. “The milk producers are selling the milk to Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) which is paying them higher prices,” he reveals. Due to lack of milk, their kiln which used to produce 20 kg Khavva every day is now hardly producing 8 kg per day on an average. He says there are seven members in the family and all were involved in the Khavva making. “We are hardly earning Rs. 300 per day.This is not sufficient for us,” he adds.According to official sources, many families in eight villages of Gulbarga and five villages of Bidar districts are into Khavva preparation since a long time.Though the Khavva making home industry gives employment to a few people, many families got involved in the process as the entire family would get engaged in Khavva making.Some people would go to buy milk of cows or buffaloes, some would bring firewood, others would become busy in preparing Khavva at home and the remaining would get engaged in selling the product.Sarasamba in Gulbarga district and Kadwad in Bidar district were famous till half decade back for selling Khavva in Hyderabad, Solapur and Gulbarga districts.But now this home industry is on the verge of closure. Manik Gowli of Sarasamba who runs another Kiln of Khavva says, though the quantum of preparation of Khavva has reduced drastically, the Khavva produced by them has good market in Hyderabad, Solapur and Gulbarga.Manik says hard work is needed for Khavva business but the profit from the business is very very less. “Our children have decided not to continue the Khavva making business and are studying in different colleges,” he observes.Earlier, they (Khavva preparers) used to give Rs. 15 to Rs. 18 for one litre of milk, but now the KMF is purchasing cow milk at Rs. 19 per litre and buffalo milk at Rs. 25 per litre.“The milk producers who were supplying milk to us have stopped it and are supplying the milk to KMF as they are getting more profit,” he says.“We go to the houses of owners of cows/buffaloes early morning and request them for giving milk at our rates and with that little milk we have to prepare Khavva,” he says. The kiln of Manik Gowli is producing 20 Kg of Khavva every day and five people of his family are involved in Khavva business. Two other families, one of Nagappa Deshaty and another of Mukindappa, are also engaged in Khavva preparation but their production is very low.The preparation of Khavva is a time consuming process.The Khavva preparers have to bring milk from milk producers and it is boiled on the oven (kiln) with firewood. Manik Gowli says though Khavva can be prepared using LPG cylinders and electric oven, the taste would be different. “Its taste is not like that of the one made from firewood kiln,” he adds. The Khavva prepares would purchase milk by paying Rs. 18 per kg and would boil it on oven.“We can produce 1 kg of Khavva from five litres of milk,” he says. “The rate of Khavva in the market is Rs. 200 per kg. We could save hardly Rs. 30 to Rs. 40 per kg and have to maintain the family too,” he explains.Most of the Khavva producers say the business would end soon as their children are not keen to continue it.Some of the Khavva makers of Kadwad village express a similar opinion.“The government should intervene and make milk available at the subsidised rates. They should provide also loans to us and then only this activity would continue,” they said. But the reality is that the milk producers are happy with KMF as it gives them higher prices.Nagendra Soratti, a KMF employee looking after milk procurement at Sarasamba says the milk procuring unit was started last year.It is collecting 250 litres of cow milk and 50 litres of buffalo milk. They are paying Rs. 19 for one litre of cow milk and Rs. 25 for one litre of buffalo milk including a subsidy of Rs. 2.DETAILS IN NUMBERS ■ The Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) milk procurement unit at Sarasamba village, started last year, is collecting 250 litres of cow milk and 50 litres of buffalo milk from the milk producers every day ■ KMF is paying Rs. 19 for one litre of cow milk and Rs. 25 for buffalo milk including a subsidy of Rs. 2 ■ The Khavva preparers go in search of those who sell milk and request them to sell them milk at Rs. 18 per litre ■ The families which were once producing 20 kg of Khavva per day now hardly prepare 8 kg