Following is an excerpt from a report in Thaiindian.

Around 850 families in Orissa’s Keonjhar District alone earn their livelihood from Badi making. Traditionally, the Badis have been prepared by grinding the Udad pulse (split black gram Dal) on a sil-stone. But to produce it for commercial purposes, today machines are used to grind the pulse for the Badi paste.

Today, the Badis prepared in Keonjhar District gaining popularity all over the country and in different parts of the world.

“We are supplying Badis to foreign countries too. The women in the old town of Keonjhar prepare these Badis. These Badis are made of Udad Dal (split black gram Dal) and various types of spices are mixed in it,” says shopkeeper Pradumna Patnaik.

Most of the Badis are marketed by Orissa Rural Marketing Services (ORMS) which also facilitates getting advance from banks to the women entreprenuers.

“Every house of Keonjhar district is preparing Badis. It is a part of their culture. For a few years, the people of Keonjhar are commercially preparing the Badis and they are also making it and it helps in their livelihood and promotional activities,” said Anant Charan Sahoo, the Chief Executive of, ORMAS in Keonjhar.

“We are also giving them training to value addition of making Badis in Keonjhar District. More than 200 groups are now engaged in Badi activities. Some parts of Keonjhar like Ghatna, Harichandanpur and Sadar block, the groups are engaged in this activity and they are even getting more money out of that Badi activity,” he added.

Many varieties Badis that are prepared by mixing Udad dal, pumpkin, almond, cauliflower and various other items and condiments. Badi added to enhance the taste of dishes.

“The Badis are very famous in Keonjhar. Badi is such a food item that tastes very good when it is fried with onion and garlic and being eaten with even overnight cooked rice. It also tastes good if it is made with vegetables. The Badis are also used in the marriages and fasts. The food doesn’t taste well without Badis. It is such a food item which can be eaten with rice even by roasting it in fire,” said Harekrishna Patnaik, a buyer.

The following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=36286.

The Ministry of Rural Development has allocated Rs. 1213330 lakh during the last four years ( till 2007-08) for its Rural Housing projects under the Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) Scheme. The total number of Houses constructed during this period stood at 1458367. An amount of Rs.134846.35 lakh was released as Second installment during the finacial year 2006-07. However, as per the guidelines of the Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) Scheme, second instalment of funds is released only to those States/DRDAs who have spent at least 60% of the total available funds during the year including the amount of 1st instalment. Also, the construction of IAY houses is done by the beneficiaries themselves with a layout and type design of their own choice. As per “All India Report on Concurrent Evaluation of Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY)” conducted during 1998 – 1999, 86% of the beneficiaries have expressed satisfaction with the constructed houses. The Central allocation for the last three years and current year and amount released to various States/UTs as second instalment of funds under Indira Awaas Yojana during the year 2006-07, alongwith the amount utilized by them and the houses constructed, is given in the table enclosed.