When the people have been leading luxurious life availing modern accessories, especially, for lighting, some 25 families in a Kaliganj village have been working round the clock producing kerosene oil-based lamps to remove the darkness in remote villages, one believe it or not.
Thousands of families in the south-western district have been benefitted from the lamps. Even the people in electrified areas have been benefitted during the load shedding of power, especilly during the summer.
The poverty fro-m the families was blown away and the families were the pathfinder in fighting against the poverty as both male and female of the families have been working join-hands.
Ram Adhikary, a kerosine lamp producer of Shibnagar village in Kaliganj said, the lamp has lightened his family when poverty was blown away. Some Madhusudan Adhikary of the village said, he was running the family working here and there. But the lamp production has helped him a lot to remove the financial crisis from the poor family.
Gopal Adhikary, Subal Adhikary, Sachin Adhikary and some others expressed the same opinion and said, the 25 families have taken the job as a challenge for past years to bring solvency in their families and they were almost success from the profession as the product ensures cash every day for them.
The lamp makers said, their work has been recognized and the demand was growing on In neighboring Chuadanga, Meherpur, Magura, Bagerhat, Jessore and some other districts. The demand was more in remote villages where the electricity was not available.
Further, the lamp was an essential in the kitchen in every house. Sellers from the areas have been rushing in Shibnagar village procuring the lamp in cash from the producers. A few hundred unemployed men and women were involved in selling the lamps in remote villages, they said.
A lamp producer Sachin Adhiray said, they collect the empty bottles of aerosol, condensed milk etc. from the hawkers and whole sellers at a cheaper rate to produce the lamps.
Usually the women have huge contribution as they produce the lamp abide their casual family work daily. The demand of their hand-made kerosine -based lamps increase when the power failure was frequent. A person can earn Taka 250 to 300 a day from the work. A piece of lamp costs Taka five to six, whwile they sale it at Taka ten to twelve, the said.
