http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=3D35390
Daily Star, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Wednesday, May 7, 2008 03:17 AM GMT+06:00 National
Tangail weaving industry in crisis as weavers quit job for price hike
of raw materials
Handlooms reduced to 50,000 from 1 lakh in 15 years
Our Correspondent, Tangail
Price hike of yarn, dye and other weaving materials are forcing many
weavers in Tangail to leave their profession, showing a sign of
gradual disaster in the traditional weaving industries in Tangail.
Back in 1992, there were over 1 lakh handlooms and 1,50000 weavers in
the district including Sadar, Kalihati, Nagarpur and Basail upazilas.
Over 50,000 handlooms in the district were closed during the last
several years due to high prices of these materials, especially yarn
and dye, said Mufakkhharul Islam, vice-president of Tangail Central
Cooperative Artisans Society Ltd, also president of Kalihati Upazila
Handloom Owners Association.
About 20,000 handlooms of the existing factories in Tangail are
inoperative at present due to the same reasons, he said.
=93Twenty out of 40 handlooms of my factory at Balla in Kalihati have
remained shut due to the same reasons,=94 he added.
According to officials of Tangail Sadar and Kalihati Basic Centres of
Bangladesh Tant Board, there are 37,222 handlooms in 10,000 small and
big handloom factories and over 70,000 weavers including handloom
owners are working under the Basic Centres in several upazilas in the
district.
Of those, 18,573 handlooms in 3,000 factories are at Balla, Rampur,
Mominnagar, Darikha****la, Kukrail, Kazibari, Kamanna, Singair and
Behalabari villages under Balla union at Kalihati upazila where about
20,000 weavers including handloom owners are working.
The weavers at Balla produce famous Tangail sarees including Benarasi
and Jamdani and merchants across the country purchase it, especially
at several regular weekly markets including those at Karatia and
Bazidpur in Tangail.
Weaver Yousuf Ali of Balla in Kalihati upazila, who became popular in
Tangail between 1976 and 1990 with his "Good Luck" brand sarees, was
forced to shut down his business in 1991 as prices of cloths including
sarees did not increase in pro****tion with the price of yarn, dye and
other materials that are needed to produce the sarees.
Many weavers at different villages in Kalihati upazila told The Daily
Star that they were considering closing their business, as it is no
longer profitable enough to sustain. Most of the looms in the region
would be closed within a few years if this situation prevails for
long, they said.
The prices of a bale of yarn saw an increase of over Tk 10,000 in one
and a half years, yarn traders said. The price of a bale of Gulshan-82
yarn was Tk 54,000 one and half years ago but now it is Tk 65,000. A
bale of Nahid-74 increased by Tk 14,000, Nahid-82 by Tk 12,000,
Delta-82 by Tk 14,000, Setu-82 by Tk 15,000, and Saiham-82 by Tk
13,000 in just one and a half years.
Several weavers of Balla at Kalihati upazila told The Daily Star
correspondent that an organised syndicate of merchants is responsible
for the increase in the price of yarn, dye and other materials. The
price of cotton did not increase that much during the last one year
and a half but op****tunist yarn merchants stockpiled yarn and
increased its prices, weavers claimed.
Admitting the presence of a yarn-merchant syndicate, Mostofa Ashrafi,
president of Yarn Traders Association of Balla, said earlier they
could im****t yarn from India but now they cannot and this has also
played a role behind the increase of yarn prices.
The government should allow im****t of yarn from outside the country to
save the weaving industry, he said.
Weaver Jinnat Ali, 60, president of Balla Ward No 2 Weavers
Association, also member of Balla union parishad, said he was forced
to shut 35 of the 55 handlooms of his factory at Rampur village due to
unusual price hike of weaving materials including yarn and dye.
About 45 per cent handlooms of Balla remained closed at present due to
the same reason, he said.
Wazed Ali, 40, of Rampur village told The Daily Star that over 10,000
handlooms including his six handlooms of Kalihati upazila including
Balla-Rampur were damaged during the recent flood but the affected
weavers did not get any financial help from the government or any
other organisations so far.
After the floods, the weavers repaired their handlooms and factories
by borrowing money from different moneylenders and NGOs, he said.
Admitting the recent hard****p of the weavers of Balla Rampur under
Kalihati upazila, Mohammad Asaduzzaman, field supervisor of Kalihati
Basic Centre, said the government should give special subsidy for
weaving materials including yarn and dye to save the weaving
industries in the region.
When contacted, Samedur Rahman, liaison officer of Tangail Sadar Basic
Center of Bangladesh Tant Board, said the handlooms industries in
Tangail have been facing threat due to manifold problems including
recent abnormal price hike of weaving materials including yarn and
dye.
The government can help to solve the problem by taking initiative for
marketing the sharis produced by Tangail weavers, he added.
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