Andhra Pradesh - Others   

Children blossom in flourishing flower trade

B.V.S. Bhaskar

KADIAPU SAVARAM (EAST GODAVARI): Children below 15 years of age earning Rs.5 lakhs to Rs. 8 lakhs per year? And a village with thatched houses a decade ago is now one of the richest villages in East Godavari?

Kadiapu Savaram village, about 40 km from Rajahmundry, is `heaven of flowers,' literally. Flower business flourishes, which has made the village prosperous. It is the only occupation in the village and women and children are major stakeholders in that.

Plucking flowers, making festoons, decorating marriage halls or temples within the district and in different parts of the State form part of their regimen.

The success stories of the booming flower trade are hard to believe.

Thirteen-year-old Srinu has earned Rs.3 lakhs to Rs. 4 lakhs in a year and purchased one acre of land on the outskirts of the village. Satyanarayana (15) constructed a well-furnished house with Rs.8 lakhs.

How do they earn so much? "I pluck flowers and earn Rs.70 per day and for making festoons I get Rs.50 and by selling flowers I earn another Rs.100. I do decorations through which I get Rs.3,000 to Rs.4,000. My monthly income is around Rs.20,000 to Rs. 30,000. But I will not neglect my studies," says Srinu.

Daily regimen

Their achievement has not come overnight. A lot of hard work goes behind their efforts. Their daily routine starts at 4 a.m. Children between seven and 15 years (both girls and boys) of age tie baskets to their backs and go to gardens on the outskirts of the village and pluck flowers.

They return to their houses by 7 a.m. and hand over the flowers to their mothers and proceed to schools. By 4 p.m., the children sell the flowers in the Kadiam flower market.

A case in point: despite helping their families in the trade, the children study hard too. The pass percentage in seventh class in the panchayat school is 100 and in SSC it is 89.

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