At the directions of Chief Minister Raghubar Das , Deputy Commissioner Dumka Mukesh Kumar had adopted one village in each of the ten blocks of the district.Though Smiling Sara Campaign had succeeded in weaning many women away from selling local liquor(Hadia), they had to be absorbed and better employment opportunities had to be created.
So products having potential of absorbing and providing gainful employment had to be identified.The famous Basukinath Dham which falls in Jarmundi block witnesses thronging of devotes in lakhs specially during the holy month of Shravan.Incense sticks (Agarbatti)form indispensible part of the pooja hence it has a considerable market not only in Basukinath Dham but also in neighbouring Baba Baidyanath Dham (Deoghar).“Seeing the ample scope of Agarbatti in the area we zeroed in on engaging women in manufacturing of Agarbattis”said Mukesh Kumar.
It was given a brand name ‘BASUKI’ Agarbatti and decided to use,inter alia, belpatras and flowers offered in pooja as ingredients. It was intended to serve multiple purpose as it was thought that people would emotionally and spiritually connect with it very easily and will also help in waste management. Bedia village in proximity of Basukinath Dham was selected for manufacturing of Basuki Agarbatti.
Manufacturing of Agarbatti is done on large scale in Dumka and has a large potential market in Dumka as well as Deoghar but due to inadequate branding and marketing the manufacturers did not get proper market for the product. DC Mukesh Kumar was of the opinion that a brand name and an aggressive marketing will prove to be very helpful in establishing agarbatti trade in Dumka and will result in earning profit and employing large number of persons esp. women.