It’s a double whammy for Haripada Basak, a member of the Fulia Progotisil Tantubay Samiti (FPTS) co-operative. First, recession ensured that export orders dried up, and then came spiralling thread prices. Clearly, the much talked about recovery from the slowdown is only a mirage for Basak.
Basak’s situation is symbolic of the ubiquitous problems that define a handloom business owner’s life in Fulia, located in West Bengal’s Nadia district. The weavers, who made the state their home almost four decades back, may have found recognition but the monetary security that should have accompanied this recognition remains elusive.
The global slowdown, which impacted export orders, hit weavers hard. A cooperative like the FPTS in an average year gets export orders of more than Rs 1.5 crore, but has seen a dip in orders of more than 20 per cent.
Basak says, “Usually, there is demand for fabric and scarves from Japan, United States and European countries like France and Italy. In the past year or so, export orders have witnessed a dip. Added to this problem is an increase in thread prices of almost Rs 100 per kilo, which does not allow us to reduce prices and limits our ability to attract business.”
Government help has not been of much use either. Much of the government’s initiatives in the sector have benefitted the power loom industry.
Tirtha Roy, secretary of the Crafts Council of Bengal, said, “The textile policy announced by the government of West Bengal in 2008 helps the power loom sector, which produces the same amount of work in half the time vis-à-vis artisan-produced fabric in Fulia. This is a challenge more than a help.”
Consider this: In the first five years of this decade, exports grew by 4 per cent solely within the European Union market, adding to the 17 per cent increase in total exports in value terms. Some of the biggest textile importers were France and Italy, where demand for novel Indian fabric within the fashion world grew at a steady pace. Textiles account for 12 per cent of India’s exports and of these about 2 per cent come from West Bengal.
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The government of West Bengal on its part accepts that falling export numbers is a problem. But, it says, the responsibility lies with the Centre. West Bengal’s tourism, micro, small-scale enterprises and textiles minister, Manabendra Mukherjee, said, “The problem with falling export demand for Fulia fabric is one that we had had to contend with since last year. This is not just a manifestation of the global slowdown however, but also a result of the faulty cotton export policies of the government, which have resulted in rising yarn prices.”
Political overtones aside, implementation of well-publicised schemes — such as the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) for making the textile industry globally competitive and the Scheme for Integrated Textile Park (SITP) to create world-class infrastructure for the textile industry - seems to have taken time, providing no real results yet.
The Fulia weavers’ forte is the ‘Tangail’ saree. Weavers from Tangail — a village in present-day Bangladesh — brought with them a simpler version of the more famous ‘Dhakai’ to Fulia and other neighbouring areas of West Bengal. But their problems are far from simple.