Banking on walking sticks to support family

Tandur: Walking sticks of all hues are being crafted by expert craftsman Satyanarayana Rao along with his family members for the past two decades providing support to the senior citizens and livelihood to many.

In the early days, the family used to create only 4 or 5 walking sticks a day and used to sell them to those who are acquainted to them at a cost of Rs 20 or 30 for each stick. As the days rolled by, the production increased to 50 a day and started exporting them to Tirupati, Warangal, Karimnagar, Vijayawada, Hyderabad, and Secunderabad and to several handicrafts selling organizations.

The walking sticks are made attractive using a wide variety of timber, including rose wood and red wood, employing eye-catching and colourful designs. The sticks are sanded and lighter to ensure a glossy finish and lighter feel. Satyanarayana says the demand for their product is good in the market because of the high quality of the materials used. Their creations are the result of hard work put in by the family members from 7 am to 9 pm. He said that he employed four daily wage workers to help them produce walking sticks.

According to son-in-law of the craftsman Satyanarayana, their cottage industry employed age-old machinery dating back to several decades. If loans are arranged by the government, he is optimistic of developing the unit into a modern production unit commissioning new machinery in sprawling work-shed augmenting production to 200-300 walking sticks a day. He said that another 10 persons are likely to find employment.