Berhampur: The south city of Berhampur which is popularly known as Silk City for its beautiful hand-woven silk sarees might soon lose its famed tag due to step motherly attitude of the state government towards the weavers, a report said Wednesday.
Lack of sponsorship and failure to get right wages for their work is slowly turning away the weavers from the job which is their traditional occupation. The youths now prefer to go outside the state to work as migrant labourers than to get stuck in this job which is hardly paying.
The city which is the nursery of famous Berhampuri Patta saree is produced from silks which women love to wear it for its fineness and distinctive designs. The sarees produced here are not only sold inside the state but also in the country and exported to various countries.
The sarees produced here is special and unique in respect to other hand-woven sarees like Sambalpuri, Bomkai, Kanjivaram, Matha and Patta produced in and outside the state as these are woven from silk spun by a worm and women feel comfortable in wearing these sarees.
Moreover, the distinctive art works and fineness makes every woman yearn for a piece of the clothing. This uniqueness of the saree has placed Berhampur on world map and has earned a distinctive name for the state.
However, the recognition which once made the city famous is slowly on the wane as weavers are slowly turning away from the job and switching to other professions. A decade back the city had 400 families of Dera community engaged in the job but is now left with only 50 families.
The weavers of these families can be found at Bada Bazaar in the city as well as in Padmanabhapur village under Digapahanadi block, Bakra Nuapada and Pital villages under Chikiti block of Ganjam district.
The weavers of this community are in this profession since three generations. However, unavailability of raw materials like silk in right time and rise in price of threads and colours has forced them to change their profession.
When contacted, a weaver G Satyanarayan said he spends 10-12 hours daily for five to seven days to produce a saree which is sold at a maximum price of Rs 1,800 to 2000. He however, gets Rs 200 as wages which he finds difficult to manage his families. Moreover, lack of incentives and sponsorship from the state government has turned away the weavers from their traditional occupation, he rued.
The state government has formed cooperative societies to grant loans to the weavers but these outfits hardly come to aid of the latter, another weaver P Lakshmikantam said.
Weaver N Trimurti said the state government is yet to provide them a land to construct a house despite he being in this job since a long period. Earlier, Berhampur MP Siddhant Mohapatra has launched efforts to provide various governmental benefits to labourers but they are yet to be realised. PNN