Weavers in distress due to poor eid-sale
Weavers of Pabna and Sirajganj districts are distressed due to the poor sale of handloom cloth ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, although they have bumper sale during both Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha every year.
“More than five crore handloom clothes, including sari and lungi, were produced here in the four lakh looms in 10 upazilas of the two districts during Eid-ul-Fitr, but the recent poor sale of handloom clothes has disappointed weavers of both districts,” said Md Haidar Ali, vice-president of Bangladesh Handloom and Power Loom Owners' Association.
At least 70 to 75 percent of the total demand of handloom clothes is met by the two districts, so the weavers expected bumper sale round the year. But they are in trouble now due to the poor sale of handloom products, said Haidar, also president of Sirajganj district unit of the Association.
Jalal Sarkar, 45, of Dogasi Kulunia village under Pabna Sadar upazila, made two saris a day before Eid-ul-Fitr, but now he is making only five to six saris a week, and earning around Tk 1.5 thousand a week.
Like him, weavers of Shahzadpur, Ullahpara, Chowhali (Enayetpur), Kazipur, Belkuchi and Sirajganj Sadar upazilas of Sirajganj, and Bera, Santhia, Sujanagar and Pabna Sadar upazilas of Pabna, face similar trouble as the good Eid-ul-Fitr sale made them happy, but now the poor sale is disheartening them.
Weavers were surprised by the huge sale of handloom clothes during the last three weeks before Eid-ul-Fitr. The sale of clothes on haat day in Shahzadpur was more than Tk 1 hundred crore, but now it is below Tk 50 crore, Haidar said.
“The handloom clothes of Pabna and Sirajganj are sold everywhere in the country. People are buying sacrificial animals, so the trading of handloom clothes has decreased,” said Md Badsha Mia, leading weaver of Pabna and also a member of the Association.
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