While in the recent years, the Left Front government has highlighted many of its achievements like empowerment of the poor and the tribals, success of self-help groups, agriculture and so on through advertisements, not once Matiabruz figured in that.
The reason is not hard to find. The Left Front government has not done much for this industry. The industry, which basically caters to the low-end market of the country, has developed with the sweat of cheap labour and traditional skill. The traders and the workers, mostly from Muslim community, are tight-lipped when the discussion hovers around the role of the government.
Since the business has been built on minimum margin of profit, most of the traders are just able to eke out their livelihood. Consistent with the status of the majority of the Muslims in West Bengal, most of the manufacturers-traders and workers alike are illiterate and socially backward. Most of them are hesitant about modernising their manufacturing process.
"A few among us have introduced Japanese and Chinese-made automated stitching machines. But most of us are afraid of abandoning our traditional way of functioning," explains Alamgir Fakir, secretary of Bangla Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Traders Association.
A good portion of the manufacturing is outsourced to those who work from their home and all family members take part in the job that suits them to keep the cost of operation low.
But they have come to know that similar cheap manufacturing facilities are being developed in other parts of the country. That worries them. "We know that we need to go for modernisation. But we are mostly illiterate. So, we hesitate," comments Sheikh Badruzzah, another trader.
The export market is looking up, but they are unable to take advantage of that. According to Alamgir Fakir, some middlemen have started exporting Metiabruz garments to the Gulf countries. But traders do not have any clue about how to go about that. "I guess a lot of paper works are needed for that and we are not capable of doing that," said Fakir.
The same paper works come as a stumbling block for the manufacturers here when they approach the banks for credit. Very few among us get bank loan.
Almost the entire industry is based on the traditional credit system where the creditors offer raw material on short-term loan. Unlike other small scale industries where seed money or a portion of the loan amount is provided by the state government as incentive, here nobody could recall of having heard such thing.
Garment manufacturers and the traders have founded one technical institute in that area to teach people the modern way of manufacturing garments. Global Institute of Information, Fashion Technology and Sciences is affiliated to the West Bengal University of Technology. At best, they propose that roads should be repaired urgently and some measures should be taken to make the traffic movement free from chaos. Mansur Ali Laskar, a director of ABM Market, informs that if a worker is injured during work there, it would be very difficult to move him to a hospital because of traffic congestion.
Laskar's brother died in a similar situation. "He died in the car. Even ambulances can't enter the area, such is the condition of traffic movement here," observes Laskar.
The state government's Small Scale Industry Development Corporation had taken up a project to build an industrial zone in Santoshpur area for the garment manufacturers of Metiabruz. Around 30 acres of land was acquired some time back. Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had laid the foundation stone there. But nothing moved after that.
"We have deposited money to set up manufacturing facilities there. But we have been waiting for the past two years with no result," laments Alamgir Fakir. He reminds that the Association has been requesting the government for a tax holiday for at least 5 years but getting no response.
Goutam Deb, minister-in-charge assures that they are pursuing the project with right earnest and would be able to start operations very soon. In the meantime, the readymade garment industry, though thriving at present, is groping in the dark about how to protect and expand their market.
