Try these coconut shell tricolour badges this Independence Day

With Independence Day approaching, women of a self-help group at Kodimbady near Puttur in Dakshina Kannada who specialise in coconut shell handicrafts, have begun making coconut shell-based mini tricolour badges.

With Independence Day approaching, women of a self-help group at Kodimbady near Puttur in Dakshina Kannada who specialise in coconut shell handicrafts, have begun making coconut shell-based mini tricolour badges.

The badges, made by members of Mahalingeshwara Sanjeevini Okkoota under the National Rural Livelihood Mission, can be pinned to clothes. Tricolour stickers are pasted on rectangular shaped coconut shells.

“Each badge is 1.5 inch long and one inch wide, and secured using a safety pin,” said Shwetha Praveen, a member of the group. The okkoota is a gram panchayat-level federation with 30 members.

Sandhya Ramachandra Gowda, the master book keeper of the federation, said each badge is priced at ₹25. They are being marketed using social media platforms. If maintained properly, each badge can be preserved for long.

Ms. Praveen said that the group members are also making coconut shell based tricolour mini flags which can be fixed inside cars. “We will avoid pasting the tricolour stickers on the badges in the coming years. We will instead paint the badges with the tricolour,” she told The Hindu.

She said among other coconut shell handicrafts, keychains and mementos are in demand. The women want to make door, wall, and car hangings in the coming days.

Hariprasad Gowda, Dakshina Kannada District programme manager, NRLM (Sanjeevini), said that earlier this year, the 30 women members had been trained for a month in making handicrafts from coconut shells. They were trained by NABARD, Bharatiya Vikas Trust, Manipal, and South Canara Coconut Farmers Producers’ Company Ltd., Vitla, in making cups, saucers, mementoes, and other products.