I walk to work and get paid 8,000 Indian rupees ($108) a month. It’s so much better than going to (the western state of) Gujarat to repay an advance and toil on someone else’s fields.

Sushma Netam

If you look at mahua, people gather and sell it in May to local traders because they can’t store it, two months later they buy it back at a higher price to use in their festivities. If the Van Dhan scheme is strictly monitored, this situation will change.

The setting of a minimum price has meant that middlemen and traders have to pay a fair price. Family incomes have gone up.

We have more than 200 village groups in the region now, 49 haat (local market) groups and 10 processing centres.