Weavers of Pabna, Sirajganj, Bogura race against the clock

BOGURA, Mar 25: Weavers and loom operators in Pabna, Sirajganj and Bogura districts are now passing busy time in producing Saree, Lungi and Gamchha (napkin) as Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festival of the Muslims, and Pahela Baishakh, the largest festival of the Bengali nation, are near at hand.
Despite their sincere efforts to manufacture clothing of international standard, both the handloom and power-loom operators are facing acute problems due to exorbitant price hike of different raw materials including cotton, dye and chemicals.
Insiders said that they are expecting to see a turnover of Tk10 billion (Tk1,000 crore) this time in the weaving sector of the three districts.
The three districts-Sirajganj, Pabna and Bogura- are home to 0.3 lakh handloom and power-loom factories which directly and indirectly employ more than two million workers.
Artisans in these factories mainly produce Jamdani, cotton Jamdani, Katan, Benarashi Saree, Lungi and various types of Gamchha.
As the two largest festivals Eid-ul-Fitr and Pahela Baishakh are getting near, many prominent traders and wholesalers from different corners of the country, including Dhaka and Chattogram, and even from neighbouring country India are gathering at the factories to purchase products of their demand and need.
Some Dhaka-based boutique houses supply these Sarees produced by the handlooms and power-looms in Pabna, Sirajganj and Bogura to different countries including Dubai, US and India.
These products are in high demand among the people of Kolkata, 24 Parganas, Hugli, Bardhaman, Nadia, Murshidabad, Maldah, Jalpaiguri, Gangarampur, Pashchim Dinajpur, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshmin Dinajpur, Kuchbihar, Hawra and Shuvorajpur in India.
Females are also lending their hands to produce Saree, Lungi and Gamchha besides the male workers. Many females and children work to process and dye cottons.
Weavers said the demand for loom clothes has increased in the market and the prices of these products have increased as well.
If the prices of raw materials like dye, cotton and chemicals could have been kept affordable, the factory owners could have earned higher profit from this sector.
However, many leading factories here are in race with their international competitors for producing and supplying highly demandable products centring the two big festivals.
Abul Kashem of Tamai village in Belkuchi upazila of Sirajganj district said, "We incurred huge losses during the coronavirus pandemic. But now, we are working hard with an aim to recoup the losses by selling our products during the Eid and Pahela Baishakh. Due to spiraling prices of raw materials, our production costs are getting high. We, however, expect a good profit this year."
Ramjan Ali, a loom operator of the same area, said, "Our workers are passing busy time at the factories as we are receiving huge orders from different parts of the country. If the prices of dye and cotton are controlled by the authorities concerned, the traditional weaving industry in the region will be able to turn around."
Rashidul Islam, a handloom worker of Gholagari in Sherpur upazila of Bogura district, said, "Prices of all essential commodities have gone up. To cover the living cost in daily life, we are working hard day and night."
Abdul Momin, a wholesaler, said, "I collect Saree and Lungi from Sirajganj, Bogura and Pabna districts and then sell those products in Dhaka, Chattogram and other parts of the country. The Saree, produced from these areas, is sold at between Tk 500 and Tk 20,000 in different retail markets."
Baidyanath Roy, general secretary of Handloom and Power-loom Association in Belkuchi of Sirajganj district, said, "Orders from different parts of the country are coming regularly. Sometimes, many wholesale traders collect the products directly from factories. That is why; we are expecting a good profit in the upcoming days."
Badiuzzaman Mandol, president of Handloom and Power-loom Owners Association in Sirajganj, said, "There is a possibility to turn over Tk10 billion (Tk1,000 crore) in the weaving sector from the sales centring the two festivals. If everything is okay, this sector will turn around again overcoming the Covid-19 shortfalls."

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