No cheer for weavers

A couple of years ago, Badsha Miah, a handloom retailer of Ataikula Haat, used to sell cloth worth Tk 8000 to Tk 10000 everyday from the first Ramadan until Eid, but he is disappointed this year due to poor sale of Tk 4000 to Tk 5000 a day ahead of the festival.

Round the year, handloom traders eagerly waited to earn profit ahead of Eid, but the poor sale of handloom cloth disappointed them and the producers this year, said trader Badsha.

Amidst the poor sale of handloom cloth, over four lakh looms are being operated in 10 upazilas of Pabna and Sirajganj in full swing ahead of Eid.

“Last year, we ran 10 looms but now I am running eight looms and trying to produce 40 bales of cloth a day,” said Khorshed Ali, a marginal weaver in Pabna's Jalalpur village.

Low income people and the village people are the key buyers of handloom cloths. Village people are not happy due to the poor price of paddy this year. Due to this, village people cut their annual festival budget.

Similarly, low income people are worst affected by soaring prices of necessary commodities, so they are not buying handloom cloth, Khorshed said, adding that they are suffering as their buyers suffer.

 “I sent 600 pieces of lungis to Shahzadpur handloom cloth market in Sirajganj for sale last week, but 150 lungies remained unsold and were returned back to my factory yesterday,” said Md Sajahan Ali, a marginal weaver of Pabna's Dogasi village.

Like him, most of the weavers of Pabna and Sirajganj are struggling to pay the wages of the handloom workers due to the poor sale.