Producing her own beauty products and medicinal tea by using natural extracts from the flora found in Manipur and thereby generating sustainable income for many, Langanglu Dangmei or Preeti as popularly known has carved a niche for herself as a successful entrepreneur.
Preeti has also been producing eco-friendly flower pots from waste papers, especially newspapers and giving training to youths since 2016.
“Manipur is a land of magic. It is a home for numerous medicinal plants. However, the public is not fully aware about their medicinal properties due to lack of research work in this field,” said Langanglu, speaking exclusively to the Imphal Free Press on Tuesday.
Thirty-seven-year-old Langanglu from Dimdailong, New Checkon, Imphal East completed cosmetology management in Delhi, and she has been producing the herbal products under the banner ‘Luna Herbal Arts and Sciences’. Apart from being a manufacturer, she is also running a beauty salon school in New Checkon, Imphal East.
Considering the issues and challenges faced by the youths who are innovative but financially weak, she has been giving free training courses to selected youths who have the potential.
“For growing the plants which are to be used as raw materials, I used to give the opportunity to a few families belonging to financially weaker sections but own small areas of land for farming. This made me able to help them in earning a livelihood and it helped mine too, at the same time,” she said.
Stressing that environmental issues and health hazards have become a great concern in society, she said that she started to focus on eco-friendly products from her young age, Langanglu added.
Pointing out that use of chemical-based products is one of the major factors of soil pollution, water pollution and has side-effects on human health, she said that as a result, the public started to prefer natural products.
The demand for her products has been growing over the years, and the products have a great potential for export. “However, due to the absence of proper equipment and machines, I have been unable to export the products,” she said.
Mentioning that she has taken the Start-up scheme of the Manipur government for establishing her business, she lauded the state government for such initiative.
“I feel proud that I could generate my income as well as for others by using the raw materials found in the state,” she said, adding, “However, I am not completely satisfied as the packaging materials of my products are imported from outside states.”
The focus on self-reliant Manipur is what keeps her going.
“I don't focus on profit. My focus is to make Manipur self-reliant in terms of raw materials and the products themselves,” she added.
Regarding the eco-friendly flower pots made from paper waste, she pointed out that plastic flower pots easily lead to premature wilting and produce unhygienic aroma with increase in temperature and affect the environment during disposal.
So, as an environmentally concerned citizen it is high time to start using eco-friendly products as much as possible, she said. Moreover, the raw materials (paper wastes) are widely and easily available, she added.
Langanglu stressed on dedication, commitment and innovative thoughts for finding a livelihood and ways of self-employment.
“Government jobs should not be considered as the only means of making a livelihood. There are various ways of self-employment if we have dedication and commitment. Manipur has lots of resources when it comes to raw materials, the only thing needed is to think innovatively,” said Langanglu, conveying a message to all the youths of the society.
Expressing the need for deeper research on various unique plants and flowers found in Manipur, she drew the attention of the authority concerned and scientists for thorough studies of the various plants found in the state.
