Divyang yet enterprising; visually challenged youth from Ganjam manufactures & sells incense sticks to support family

When there is a will, there is a way. The saying has been proven true by M Chandan Dora from Khuladi village under Ganjam’s Digapahandi block. He is blind by birth but never considered himself handicapped.

Despite being a divyang, he is not a burden on anybody. Dora has set up an incense stick manufacturing unit at his village and earns his living. Not only manufacturing, but he also sells his products all by himself.

Dora selling his variety of agarbattis in nearby villages by moving around in a hand-pulled trolley has become a common sight for the locals.

He learned agarbatti manufacturing online. He then ordered some machines and started manufacturing them in his village. He has also employed two women at his workshop. While he goes out to sell the incense sticks, the women get busy manufacturing them.

“I am making agarbattis of various types and selling them in villages. I have a small workshop in my village where there are agarbatti-making machines. I manufacture them in my village and sell them in nearby villages,” said Dora.

“I am planning to expand my business by installing some more new machines at my workshop. It would be great if I could get funding from somewhere,” he said.

A local of Sanakhemundi, Anjana Behera said, “He is blind. But he never depends on anybody to earn his livelihood. We feel sorry watching him carry 50-70 kg of his products and sell them door-to-door. I request the government to help him in any way so that his sufferings can be alleviated.”