Following is from the Telegraph:
Bhubaneswar, May 27: The state-run handloom industry is struggling for survival and lags behind in popularising the indigenous patterns and fabrics of Odisha whereas private players are doing roaring business.
The plight of weavers, who cater to government textile organisations and many of who have quit their hereditary profession in the past few years because of financial pressures, reflects the fact.
Sonepur, the hub of Sambalpuri textile materials in western Odisha, is home to at least 50,000 weavers. But, absence of an organised market has pushed them into a state of misery. The weavers’ co-operative society, which used to look after the community, is now non-existent in Sonepur while the Odisha State Handloom Development Corporation has been shut down since 2001 and its 500-odd employees continue to struggle for their outstanding wages.
The condition of weavers in Sambalpur district is no better. Lack of proper support from the government and the soaring price of yarn have forced several weavers to quit their traditional profession. “The number of weavers in the state has decreased remarkably. Several weavers are quitting their traditional profession,” said Manabhanjan Meher, advisor to the local weavers’ society, Nikhila Odisha Meher (Bhulia) Samaj.
“One cannot think of supporting his family by weaving alone now. Hence, several weavers are giving up their traditional profession. There were 40 looms at Badbazar. But, a majority of the weavers gave up this profession. Now, there are only three looms at Badbazar,” he added. The government should take steps for controlling the price of the yarn to save the weavers, he said.
The state handloom and textile department said Odisha had 43,652 looms being run by 1,92,339 weavers. Of them, 86,355 weavers operate under 526 weaver co-operative societies and 18,154 are organised under the 1,511 self-help groups.
The weavers, who are not covered under co-operative societies, find it hard to run the profession because of inadequate wages, rise in price of yarn and absence of an organised market.
“I have to depend upon the sahukars (intermediate tradesmen), who supply me with the raw materials such as yarn, dye, and later in turn, take away the finished product from me. While the sahukars enjoy good profit by selling the product, I am paid a meagre wage,” said Parameswar Meher, a weaver of Ranipur village in Sonepur. Parameswar said the wage he got was meagre considering the fact that it took at least 15 to 20 days to weave a sari. “All my family members are engaged when I weave a sari. It takes at least 15 to 20 days to weave a sari and I get only about Rs 2,000 as my wage,” he said.
Rama Meher, another weaver of Kendupali village in Sonepur said it was difficult for him to run his family with the weaving profession. “I have to look for something else now to feed my family since our ancient profession of weaving is not enough for a livelihood. Many in the village have already quit the profession and are doing better as skilled labourers,” he said.
Internationally acclaimed Padmashree Chaturbhuj Meher, who established the well-known handloom store Meher’s that has among its clients President Pratibha Patil, film star Jaya Bacchan and many international cricketers, said the Sambalpuri textile had a huge market. But, there had to be right policies by the government to develop this market, he said.
“With the adoption of new technology such as the Jacquard loom, the weavers now weave more exquisite textile materials, but they don’t get the right price for it. While the independent weavers have to market their product themselves by travelling to the big cities, the others, who are not financially sound, have to depend upon the sahukars who exploit them,” he said.
Management head of the Meher’s Gouranga Patra said the government-run handloom organisation Utkalika was the reason behind quitting of weaving by around 300 artisans.
“It was doing good business, but in the 80’s, the management there was corrupt and they did not repay the weavers, who had taken huge loans to give Utkalika their consignments. This caused a permanent damage to the handloom industry in the state,” sai Patra.
He said the government could take up initiatives in giving weavers promotion to improve the scenario. “Once a weaver has expertise at a certain design or pattern, he should be given promotion by being assigned to work on a more intricate design and a costlier fabric, so he ultimately earns more and also acquires skills. We have around 3,000 weavers working for us this way and they are doing very well economically,” he said.
Last year, the department of handloom invited well-known designers from all over the country to promote the patterns of Odisha at their fashion shows. But, there are other important things to be looked at, feel experts.
“What our handloom industry needs now is better marketing strategies and design innovations. We could experiment with our patterns and add more creativity to suit the international market. Our silk and cotton fabrics are so rich that there is great demand of the Odisha fabric throughout the world. We must capitalise on it. I use it in my creations and get great response world over,” said well-known fashion designer Pritam Panda.
Officials of the state handloom and textile department said the state government was taking all steps for the development of the handloom units and weavers. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has announced a special package for the handloom weavers that includes infrastructure development, capacity building of the weavers, intervention of modern technologies and marketing promotion. Naveen will inaugurate an exhibition of Odisha handloom products in London next week to showcase fabrics from the state.
“The handlooms production in Odisha during 2011-12 was to the tune of Rs 180 crore because of sustained efforts of the state government,” said a senior official.
Two major co-operative bodies — the Odisha State Handloom Weavers Co-operative Society (popularly known as Boyanika) and Sambalpuri Vastralaya — have significantly improved their performance. The sales turn over of Boyanika was Rs 52.62 crore in 2011-12 and it earned a profit of Rs 1.13 crore in 2010-11. Similarly, Sambalpuri Vastralaya had made a turn over to the tune of Rs 20 crore in the same year, said the official.
As Odisha’s textile products are facing the problem of duplicated products outside the state, the government has registered two textile items (Odisha ikat and Kotpad handloom fabrics) with the Geographical Indication Registry (kind of patenting at Chennai under the Union commerce ministry.
Five more indigenous and exclusive products of Odisha — Sambalpuri bandha, Sonepuri Bomkai, Dhalapathar screen, Habaspuri sari and Berhampuri patta and jodo — were in the pipeline, said the officials.
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May 28, 2012 at 1:32 pm sanjibkarmee
Following is a report from TNIE:
BARGARH: Some precious artefacts, once the pride of Bargarh Museum, have either been stolen or are missing and little effort has been made by the district administration to renovate the museum and restore its glory.
Set up in 1994 at the initiative of the then district collector Anu Garg and some Good Samaritans, the museum now looks for a saviour.
The museum was set up in a hall provided by the Regulated Cooperative Marketing Society (RCMS) along the College Road here.
Architect Sandeep Mathur extended his services free and people worked against time to complete it. The entire exercise was aimed at preserving and conserving the rich cultural tradition of the district.
Prominent among the donors was Sambalpuri Bastralya which contributed weaving materials, motifs and traditional designs made of vegetable dyes. Two artefacts that attracted crowds to the museum were a wooden bicycle used by a tribal family of Rajborasambar princely estate and a ‘Kansardi’, a woodcraft of Ghess Zamindar’s wife. Soon the museum had eight stone sculptures, a sword used by martyrs of Ghess Zamindar family, traditional tribal ornaments and jewellery, terracotta items, wooden toys which continue to be known as Bargarh toys, handloom instruments, rare palm leaf manuscripts and musical instruments like dhunkel.
However, as there was no designated staff to manage and look after the museum, it was decided that a staffer from District Library would open it every Friday, the weekly market day. And the museum was also drawing crowds till official apathy took a toll on it three years back and is yet to recover.
The priceless artefacts were shifted from the museum and dumped in Gandhi Bhawan. It is from this place that they were lost as the building remains unguarded. Though the district administration moved the State Government seeking permanent staff to help reopen the museum nothing has been done as yet. By the time the Government wakes up from its slumber, the artefacts would have been lost forever and so also a slice of district’s rich cultural heritage.
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May 24, 2012 at 3:11 pm sanjibkarmee
Following is a report by TOI:
SAMBALPUR: He is the recipient of Sarala Samman in 2008. Odisha Sahitya Academy felicitated him in 2010 for his contribution to the field of literature. But 83-year-old renowned litterateur and lyricist Binod Pasayat never fails to open his barber shop every morning.
“This is my bread and butter and literature is my hobby. So I maintain an equilibrium between my two professions,” smiles the octogenarian, who has numerous prestigious awards and citations to his credit. The writer of several plays and songs, considered an important figure in the history of Sambalpuri language, has no other source of income apart from his inherited profession.
Born in the year 1935 in Balangir town, Pasayat had to drop out of school after Class VIII to help his father in their ancestral profession because of their poor financial condition. Though he could not complete his studies, his passion for literature led him to shift his workplace to Sambalpur in 1953. “I came in contact with Murari Prasad Mishra, a renowned cultural figure of Sambalpur, and with his encouragement and support I started my literary career in Sambalpur,” recalls Pasayat. “But it was famous musician Arun Prasanna Seth who gave a new shape to my songs and I created one Sambalpuri song after another,” he reminisces.
However, it was Pasayat’s famous Sambalpuri play ‘Mui Nai Mare’ (I will never die) that brought him fame. In the play, the actor playing Ravan, the demon king of Lanka, refused to die at the hands of Ram because his wife suggested him not to die this time. Everyone, including the director tried a lot to persuade him to die, but he was rigid not to die this time. The play was a hit and Pasayat’s work was appreciated by one and all.
“The government should recognize his contribution by providing him a pension as a mark of respect to the artist,” says retired teacher and educationist Laxmikant Mishra.
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May 16, 2012 at 2:10 am sanjibkarmee
Kosal Discussion and Development Forum 