Kanyashree girls roped in to produce unique bio-degradable pens with a seed

Kolkata: The Purulia district administration has come up with a new idea of manufacturing bio-degradable pens made of paper. On Monday, Panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee inaugurated the same at the Panchayat Bhavan in Salt Lake. Sources informed that already orders from several government departments have been received. Also online shopping site Amazon has showed a willingness to sell these eco-friendly pens through their e-commerce website.

Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of Raghunathpur Akanksha Bhaskar had come up with the idea a few months ago. Later she organised a training session with Kanyashree girls from Para block of Raghunathpur sub-division, who are making such pens for selling them in the markets. After a short period of training, 18 Kanyashree girls along with 14 women from Self-Help Groups were selected to manufacture these pens under the banner of Para Anandmoyee Sangha Samobay Samiti. The pens have been named 'Seed Pen'.

Mukherjee said: "These pens are made for use and throw purpose. Each pen contains a seed inside it. Each pen will give birth to a tree."

Ruksana Khatun, a final year student who is also a Kanyashree, and is engaged with the venture said: "There is no plastic material that has been used other than the refill that is present in the pens. The paper has been rolled into the soil to make it hard. We are very happy to hear that our work is going to be sold in the markets."

The District Magistrate (DM) of Purulia, Alokesh Prasad Roy, also praised the initiative. He informed that this type of initiative prevailed in Maharashtra. Bhaskar modified the idea and added the seed in it before implementing.

"It is a good idea. Kanyashree girls are being showed the way to be self-dependent," said Roy.

To manufacture the pens, seeds are being procured from nurseries. Already order of 3,000 pens has been received from the District Election Officers office of Kolkata North. Mukherjee has also directed his officers to buy such pens from their department. The price of each pen has been fixed at Rs 5.