Eco-friendly: Jammu boy designs idols, incense sticks from cow dung

Jammu, Nov 24: Rajat Salgotra, an MBA graduate from Jammu’s Janipur area was finding it difficult to understand how the urban dung could be stopped from flowing into Tawi river to save the river from getting further polluted..
To find answers to his queries, the 28-year-old Rajat son of Ravi Kumar Salgotra of Janipur, studied the relevant matter available on the internet and YouTube in particular. His hard work finally paid off when he learnt to make some of the creative eco-friendly products using the urban dung.
Accordingly, he got a private company registered under the name of Samast Eco Alternatives Private Limited and started working on different creative models to create a range of products from the otherwise waste material (dung).
Therefore stopping the same from flowing into the rivers, including Ganpati idols, incense sticks, decorative items, Sambrani cups, diyas, incense cones, pots, seed balls, cow dung logs, and cow dung cakes.
According to Salgotra, every year, tonnes of dung is generated by the stray animals loitering around the city areas and this goes into the rivers as a waste.
“So, after registering the company, I started meeting various unemployed village women in nearby villages of Domana, Bhawani Nagar, Mishriwala, Purkhoo etc. to give them employment by registering them as Self-Help-Groups (SHGs) and to train them for creating various eco-friendly products from the urban dung,” Salgotra said.
“Now, almost 30 women associated with my venture collect the dung on their own and make fine products,” he further said.
Rajat said that initially when he succeeded in creating one of the products from the dung, he also underwent a two months’ training course at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences Jammu (SKUAST-Jammu) to understand different aspects of business including value addition and proper marketing strategies.
“A team of industry’s experts trained me and other volunteers in different commercial aspects of the business,” the young entrepreneur said.
Rajat’s company, Samast Eco Alternatives Pvt Ltd, has tied up with various government departments including State Pollution Control Board, Jammu Municipal Organisation, State Handicraft Department, SKUAST-Jammu and other government bodies, which help them sell their eco-friendly products at government-run melas and exhibitions.
Besides, he is also selling his products from his website and other online applications.
His sales particularly see upward trends during the festive season when he sells eco-friendly idols and diyas to the customers.
Rajat’s eco-friendly products like pots, Ganesha idols, and diyas also help in providing essential nutrients to the soil on immersion in water.
During the last financial year, when a business audit was done, Rajat’s company’s sales figure was almost Rs 4 lakh per annum.
“I am expecting that the sales figures will continue to go up in coming years as we’ve been coming up with different other innovations in sales and business,” said an optimistic Salgotra.