Jaleswar: Gobardhanpur, a village in Kotasahi panchayat under Jaleswar block in Balasore district, is known as the village of tailors. Most of its populace ekes out a living on tailoring.
About 400 families live in the village on the banks of Subarnarekha. All residents belong to the Jogi community.
Locals say, they also grow paddy, but floods wash away the crop every year. “We have no other option but to take up tailoring as a means of livelihood,” they added.
Both males and females of the village are into this profession. Their major bulk of work comes in form of orders for uniforms of schoolchildren from schools and Anganwadi centres in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Mayurbhanj districts.
Besides, they also sew petticoats, blouses, chudidars and other women’s garments which are supplied to wholesalers.
Baisakhi Nath, a resident says: “Most of our villagers sew school uniforms, shirts, chudidars, pillow covers, blouses and other dress materials. I learnt tailoring from my father. This is how we run our family.”
The villagers buy clothes and threads from Kolkata. “We have to spend Rs 70 to 80 on a shirt, and it is sold for Rs 100 to 110. In case of making a pant, we have to spend Rs 60 to 70 per unit, and it is sold for Rs 90 to Rs 100. For a chudidar, the making cost is Rs 150 while it is sold for Rs 190 to 200,” a tailor said.
A tailor can churn out 25 to 30 chudidars a day and can earn Rs 400 to 500, he added.
The villagers are using traditional sewing machines. New machines can help them make new designer dresses which can fetch them good profits, he said.
Ashok Nath, another tailor, said this is their traditional occupation. “We run our families with this business. No government help is available to us. If we get loans, we can buy high-speed machines to produce more dress materials,” Ashok added.
Radheshyam Nath, another tailor, lamented: “Tailoring is done in traditional way. There is nothing new. The government should make provision of skill upgradation and training for us so that we can make designer dresses to cater to demands of the current market.”
