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BUSINESS
Sualkuchi needs to go for product diversification
By
Devajit Mahanta
ON JANUARY 9, 1946 Mahatma Gandhi went to Sualkuchi to ask people to
weave their clothes instead of buying but when he saw that every family had
a loom he said, “Women of Assam can weave dream on their looms.”
Sualkuchi, about 35 kms from Guwahati, is the largest village in Assam and also known as ‘Manchester of the East’.
Sualkuchi silk comprises three major types – golden muga, white pat and
warm eri silk. The handloom heritage village of Sualkuchi
is a labour-intensive industry.
Considering the potential of the industry, the Kamrup District
Administration in association with the North Eastern Council and National
Institute of Fashion Technology, Kolkata has set up the Sualkuchi Institute
of Fashion Technology (SIFT) in 2008 under the aegis of the Ministry of
Textiles to impart fashion-related education and to create professionals to
meet the varied manpower needs of the industry there so that international
challenges could be met.
To generate self-employment in weaving through self-help groups and to
facilitate the gainful utilization of muga and eri yarn products in
Sualkuchi through the yarn bank, the North Eastern Council approved the
‘Project Sualkuchi’ in 1987 towards implementation of the schemes
‘Integrated Product Policy’ (IPP).
Government subsidies for the silk project and marketing schemes (like IPP
and SIFT) to develop the silk industry there has hardly influenced the
weavers to give up the traditional methods of weaving.
The existence of mahajans at Sualkuchi has made it a difficult task for the
weavers to establish self-help groups. These mahajans own a large number of
looms and provide employment to the weavers. Apart from that they lend money
to weavers to operate the looms. Thus weavers have no control over their
cash inflow. To keeping away the middlemen and mahajans from the entire
cycle, the yarn bank and auction market should be further developed for the
benefit of the weavers.
Also the industry is facing a big challenge from the China which is dumping their silk products
to India
at rates much below their production cost. So there is urgent need to
modernize the industry by inducting more efficient machines and power looms
if it is to compete with the silk produced in China.
After the fighting for a foothold in the international markets by fending
off the Chinese companies, the global economic meltdown now seems to be
playing spoilsport as the exports have gone down considerably.
Lack of consistency in production, neglect of marketing linkages, low end
technology use and reluctance to use costlier technologies due to fears
that there might not be corresponding improvement in price realisations are
the reasons causing imbalance between the demand and supply position in the
domestic silk market.
Silk, the queen of all fabrics, is historically one of India’s most important industries which
employs over 700,000 families and is mostly concentrated in Assam, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh
and West Bengal. After China, India is the second largest
producer of silk, contributing 18 percent to the world production. Apart
from employment, the silk industry is also a good foreign exchange earner. India exports silk goods worth over Rs 2,100
crore mostly to the Unites
States and the
European Union.
The artisans of Sualkuchi should now try to increase their value added
handicrafts product range and establish links with reputed international
design and research institutions
To enhance the livelihood of a sizeable population and also to create a new
brand for Sualkuchi silk, the government should initiate intensive training
programme on research and development for product diversification and
design innovation.
Readers can send their feedback at devajitmahanta@gmail.com
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