300 families in Garje village earn livelihood from broomsticks

Besoms made in the village marketed in most parts of India

This village is a beautiful example of how 300 families in this village are living an independent life, eking out living making besom, without any monetary support from the Government.

The families engaged in besom making collect dried coconut fronds. The fronds are separated and cleaned. The cleaned twigs are bundled together. The stacks of besoms are brought to Kadur market at about 4 am for sale. Each broom is sold at Rs 4 to Rs 6 in the market.

There are over 100 people selling brooms in the area. Every morning these sellers can be seen heading to the market with load of brooms on their cycles, two-wheelers etc. The retail vendors purchase stacks of brooms from them and sell it at Rs 7 to Rs 8.

Ahmed has been selling brooms for several years. He willingly took over the four generation old business from his father. He sells over 100 brooms a day-both retail and wholesale and saves about Rs 300 per day.

“We are happy in this business. Women in the house clean the fronds and make brooms. Men sell it in the market. This business has never put us in trouble. We are earning enough and hence have no plans for looking for other job opportunities,” Ahmed says

To Uttar Pradesh

From an outset Garje might come across as a normal village but this village has shown how a business like making brooms can make a village independent. There are four major trading companies named Nizamuddin, Bharath, Maruthi and Nethravathi. These companies select besoms on basis of its quality and send it to Uttar Pradesh. In this way besoms from Garje are available in Agra, Shahapur, Lucknow, Rai Bareily, Gwalior. It is also sold in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. Garje meets the demand for brooms in most of the government offices as well.

There are people who have been in this business for generations. There are over 300 houses in this village where broom making is a way of life.