After liquor was prohibited in Bihar, 'tilkut', a sweet snack in Gaya made from pounded sesame seeds, nuts and jaggery, is now being prepared from the mahua flowers.
Women of Somea village in the Maoist-affected Barachatti block, about 60 kms from Gaya district headquarters, used to prepare country liquor from the mahua flowers for a living.
However, after being rendered jobless due to liquor ban in the state, they started making tilkuts from these nectar-filled flowers under the Special Central Assistance (SCA) scheme for the Maoist-affected districts.
Talking to IANS, a forest department official said: "Until five-six years ago, country liquor was being made from Mahua in this area. Due to the abundance of mahua flowers in the forests here, the business of making alcohol from these nectar-filled flowers was easy for the women and people were earning well from it here.
"However, the situation changed after the prohibition law came into force in Bihar. Within a few months, over 1,000 people were arrested for indulging in the liquor business and most of the women were rendered jobless.
"The district administration and the forest department then planned to make the villagers skilled in the collection, processing and marketing of Mahua flowers to prevent criminalisation, forest fires and provide alternative livelihood opportunities to these forest dwellers."
Under the SCA scheme, preparation of mahua tilkut at the district level was approved by a tripartite committee consisting of District Magistrate, Senior Superintendent of Police and Forest Divisional Officer (FDO). The pilot project was started in Somea village.
Shiv Malviya, a forest department official who is overseeing this project, said: "These women were first trained to make tilkut at home and it started last year. The special thing about it is that no sugar or jaggery is being used to prepare this dish. Only sesame and mahua flowers are being used."
Abhishek Kumar, the then FDO of Gaya, who initiated this project, said: "The women who used to pick mahua from these forests and sell it to the liquor manufacturers, are all associated with this project today. They collect these flowers and dry them to make the snack."
He further added that the nets, which are used to collect the flowers from the forests, were distributed by them among the villagers.
However, since it only started last year, not much profit has been made yet. The villagers are now preparing for the flower shedding which takes place between March and April, Malviya said.
According to the forest department officials, this year, many other types of snacks are also being planned to be prepared from the mahua flowers.
A female worker told IANS: "Earlier I used to make liquor from mahua. Later, the officials of this project contacted us and trained us, after which we formed a group and became associated with this project.
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