J&K: LoC villagers look for support to market traditionally prepared ‘Kalakand’

Rajouri (J&K), Feb 28 (PTI) Residing along the barbed wire fence of the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir’s Nowshera sector, villagers engaged in producing sweet milk cakes, locally known as ‘Kalakand’, are eyeing government support to market it in and outside the Union territory.

Restricted by limited scope of sale of their produce, the villagers said, majority of households involved in the production of Kalakand often have to throw away their surplus in the fields.

Kalakand is prepared by processing cow milk on wood fire in Sehar, Makri, Namb and Kadali villages, located ahead of the Anti-Infiltration Obstacle System along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district.

“Milk cakes produced in our village are of the best quality but unfortunately, we do not have any scope of sale in outer markets. Our sale is mostly in Army areas on the LoC,” Kamal Parkash, a resident of Sehar village who makes a living by selling the sweet, told PTI.

He said the government should take steps to provide adequate scope to milk cake producers to sell their produce so that they can make a living properly.

“Our village is on the LoC facing Pakistan, and there are very few opportunities to earn a livelihood. Proper marketing of Kalakand can boost the economy of our area as a large number of people are engaged in its making,” Parkash said.

More than a dozen forward posts of the Pakistani army are visible from the villages in the area. A majority of the houses here have splinter marks, reminiscent of the times when cross-border shelling was a routine affair before a renewed ceasefire agreement came into place two years ago.

Parkash said a majority of the households have milk-producing animals and they have to throw away surplus milk.

Vicky Kumar, another local resident, said they collect cow milk from houses in the village.

“The cow milk is processed for hours over wood fire and a meagre quantity of sugar is added to it. The product is healthy as no preservative, flavour or any other substance is added,” he said, adding that despite a lot of effort, “we are struggling to get customers and a proper value for the product”.

He said the majority of villagers in the area are dependent on agriculture and face various hardships due to bad roads, poor healthcare and strict security restrictions.

Army personnel guarding the border also lauded the villagers for producing “pure and very tasty” sweets.

Senior scientist and head of the Krishi Vigyaan Kendra, Rajouri, Arvind Kumar Isher said his office was working on a project to ensure the sale of Kalakand outside LoC villages.

“The need of the hour is that the produce of the villagers be made available in markets of big cities like Jammu,” he said.