# Balod Women Self-Help Group Crafts Eco-Friendly Cow Dung Diyas for Diwali, Eyeing Rs 40,000 Extra Earnings

> Thirty women from the Chahat Bihan Self-Help Group in Balod are handcrafting eco-friendly clay and cow dung lamps, earning up to Rs 40,000 during the festive season.

**Type:** article · **Category:** Business · **Published:** 2026-11-04 · **Source:** TrendKia
**Canonical:** https://trendkia.com/en/business/gobara-aura-mitti-ke-diyon-se-balod-ki-mahila-samuha-ne-shuru-ki-khasa-divali-taiyari-40-hajara-rupaye-taka-ki-atirikta-aya-56250 · **Language:** English
**Tags:** Balod, Diwali, Self Help Group, Eco Friendly Diyas, Cow Dung Diyas, Women Empowerment, Chhattisgarh

With the festive season of Diwali around the corner, market squares are buzzing with commerce, and in the Balod district, a collective of rural women is turning the celebration into a showcase of grassroots self-reliance. Associated with the Chahat Bihan Self-Help Group, these women are combining festive craft with sustainability by rolling out handmade decorative items. Their product lineup includes traditional earthen lamps, eco-friendly diyas moulded from cow dung, and homemade candles. To make each piece visually striking for festive shoppers, the women have carefully painted them in vivid hues, lending an artisanal finish that stands out against factory-made alternatives.

## Preparations Launched During the Navratri Season
Meeting festive demand requires foresight, and the collective began its production cycle weeks in advance. Raveena Sahu, an active member of the self-help group, noted that preparations were put into motion back during the Navratri festivities. A dedicated workforce of around 30 women works together across the production pipeline, handling clay shaping, cow dung mixture casting, and candle moulding. This initiative is not a one-off project; the group has been running this production drive consistently for the past three years. Each festive cycle witnesses a surge in demand for eco-conscious home decor, offering these women a dependable avenue to secure supplementary household income without abandoning their daily routines.

## Budget-Friendly Pricing Geared Toward Eco-Conscious Buyers
The self-help group deliberately set product rates to ensure affordability for average household budgets while promoting sustainable materials. Customers can purchase a pack of 5 earthen diyas for 50 rupees, while an artisan set of 4 cow dung diyas is also priced at 50 rupees. For lighting alternatives, the group offers homemade decorative candles priced between 100 and 120 rupees per unit. The cow dung diyas are specially painted and finished to encourage local families to embrace biodegradable, traditional materials rather than non-recyclable festive goods that create post-holiday waste.

## Expanding Direct Sales to Administrative Hubs
Rather than depending exclusively on local retail storefronts or street vendors, the women expanded their distribution channels across key public institutions. Group members set up sales points directly across administrative venues, including the Balod market, the collectorate complex, the district administrative offices, the tehsil office, and the janpad panchayat premises. This targeted distribution model allows the artisans to sell directly to government employees and visiting citizens, cutting out middlemen entirely, retaining the full margin of each sale, and building widespread local credibility for their grassroots enterprise.

## A 40,000-Rupee Seasonal Income Boost
The concentrated period of festive sales translates into significant financial returns for the collective. According to Raveena Sahu, the self-help group accumulates around 40,000 rupees in supplementary income over the short span of the Diwali season. This financial return plays a crucial role in bolstering household budgets and advancing financial autonomy among the rural women involved. By using locally sourced, readily available raw materials like clay and cow dung, the artisans have created a sustainable business model centered around seasonal demand. Through this initiative, the Chahat Bihan group members are not only supplying lights for festive homes across the district, but also generating lasting economic empowerment for themselves.

## What this means for you
This community initiative delivers affordable, biodegradable festive lighting while strengthening rural livelihoods.

- **Across India:** The initiative demonstrates how festive demand can be harnessed to stimulate micro-entrepreneurship and curb decorative waste. Consumers nationwide can adopt similar eco-friendly products to direct festive spending toward rural artisan groups.
- **In Balod and Chhattisgarh:** Local shoppers can purchase budget-friendly diyas directly at the collectorate and administrative complexes without retail markups. Buying 4 to 5 diyas for 50 rupees provides citizens an easy way to support 30 local families while keeping holiday traditions green.
- **For self-help collectives:** The direct-sales approach in administrative office complexes provides a replicable roadmap to bypass retail middlemen. This enables small producer groups to retain maximum earnings and secure seasonal windfalls of up to 40,000 rupees.
- **Environmental impact:** Cow dung and natural clay lamps decompose cleanly into soil compost following the festival. This eliminates hazardous synthetic debris in municipal areas after seasonal celebrations.

## Why this happened
A combination of festive consumer demand, growing environmental awareness, and the need for rural household earnings drove this initiative.

- **Direct seasonal demand:** Decorative lighting demand surges sharply in the run-up to Diwali. The collective capitalized on this window by launching production weeks in advance during Navratri.
- **Readily available raw materials:** Clay and cow dung are abundantly accessible in rural settings with minimal upfront capital expenditure. Combining these base ingredients with decorative paint created high-value festive products at low input costs.
- **Consistent three-year track record:** The group has successfully executed this seasonal manufacturing cycle over the past three consecutive years. Prior customer demand gave the 30 artisans the confidence to maintain production levels this season.
- **Direct institutional retail access:** Gaining access to sell within government complexes like the collectorate and tehsil premises provided guaranteed foot traffic. Bypassing retail intermediaries ensured that the full retail proceeds flowed straight to the producers.

## Questions & Answers

### 1. Which self-help group is making eco-friendly diyas in Balod?
The Chahat Bihan women's self-help group in Balod district is manufacturing these eco-friendly diyas and candles.

### 2. How many women are involved in this manufacturing initiative?
Around 30 women from the group work collectively to produce the diyas and decorative candles.

### 3. What are the prices of the diyas and candles?
A set of 5 clay diyas costs 50 rupees, 4 cow dung diyas cost 50 rupees, and homemade candles range between 100 and 120 rupees.

### 4. Where are the women selling their festive products?
They sell at Balod market and set up stalls across administrative venues including the collectorate, tehsil, and janpad panchayat offices.

### 5. How much extra income does the group generate during Diwali?
The women earn approximately 40,000 rupees in supplementary income over the festive season.

### 6. How long has the group been undertaking this seasonal work?
The members of the Chahat Bihan group have been producing these festive items consistently for the past three years.

## Inspiration & Lessons
The artisans of the Chahat Bihan Self-Help Group illustrate how collective action and simple local resources can establish sustainable financial independence.

- **Proactive planning:** Preparation ahead of peak market cycles is crucial for success. Commencing production during Navratri ensured adequate inventory when festive consumer purchasing peaked.
- **Resource value addition:** Transforming low-cost local materials like clay and cow dung into painted artisanal decor demonstrates practical value creation. Simple creativity can convert commonplace rural resources into viable revenue streams.
- **Power of collective collaboration:** Pooling the labor of 30 women made scalable production achievable without heavy financial investment. Cooperative teamwork reduces individual workload and expands manufacturing capacity.
- **Smart direct marketing:** Rather than relying on third-party shops, setting up stalls at administrative complexes enabled direct customer engagement. Cutting out intermediaries maximizes profit margins and builds long-term customer trust.

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