Tribal women in villages across the Palamu tiger reserve spend their winter days in extracting seeds of Van Tulsi (Wild Tulsi). Van Tulsi is in abundance in the degraded forest strip in the tiger reserve that runs from road side beginning Betla to Mahuadarn. It is a self-growing plant. A visitor to tiger reserve can have a Tulsi smell if he passes through the bunches of it. Van Tulsi is not eaten up by any wildlife the herbivores.
Its seed is sold at the price of Rs 10 a kilogram. Sources said village traders then sell this in Varansi at Rs 30 a kilogram. Seeds of Van Tulsi are used in making agarbatti and ayurvedic anti-malaria pills. And for one kg of Van Tulsi seeds, the entire family is engaged for days and weeks to earn Rs 50. Not only this as Van Tulsi comes under minor forest produce and since it is in tiger reserve so under orders of the Supreme Court no major or minor forest produce of any kind is to be extracted either from the wild life sanctuary, wild life reserve or national park.
Sources said any tiger reserve official even a tracker can stop a tribal even from collecting Van Tulsi. The DFO buffer of the Palamu tiger reserve Anil K Mishra has confirmed that poor women especially the tribals extract seeds of Van Tulsi and sell it off for Rs 10 a kilogram for which their school going children miss their schools as they assist their family members in extracting the seeds. Mishra also confirmed that Van Tulsi is a self-grown one and abounds in degraded forest more but is not to be found where the forest in the tiger reserve is dense.