Bhubaneswar: With festivities of Christmas and New Year around the corner the Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Department, Govt. of Orissa is offering discounts at two of their outlets-Utkalika of Orissa State Co-operative Handicrafts Corporation Limited, and Amlan of Orissa Cooperative Tasar and Silk Federation Ltd,(SERIFED).
At both the outlets Sambalpuri sarees, Tasar silk, Kantha saree, dress material of cotton, Stole garments etc are for grabs with discounts ranging from 10 to 20 per cent.
The initiative had received encouraging response from the customers, as both Amlan and Utkalika are experiencing healthy surge in footfalls.
We are providing discounts of up to 20 per cent on all the handloom products and customer response has been very good, said Abhiram Das of Amlan outlet at Saheed Nagar. The outlet has a large collection of Tasar sarees from Sonepur area, handloom bed sheets and other products.
Besides, the handloom products too are a favourite of the customers, as they have their unique charm in terms of quality, designs and utility. Sales are very good and are expected to be even higher by the time New Year eve arrives, he added.
The prices are fixed as per Govt rules and handloom workers and those making the products are direct stakeholders so far as proceeds of the sales are concerned, Das said, adding that sarees are available from Rs 1000 to Rs 16000.
Jajati Mishra of the same outlet in Toshali mela, claimed that the outlet is selling close to 6 lakh handicraft products on a daily average these days and he expects to sale to go up further the next week, before the New Year.
NC Sarangi, manager of Utkalika in Market building area, said that silk and cotton sarees are the most preferred products this season.
In handicraft section of Utkalika the products like dakora art, golden grass craft, wooden sculptures are selling like hot cakes.
According to Asha Khatua the cotton handloom products of Orissa have a unique style and color and every other such product is different from the other, unlike machine and assembly line made products. Sarees, dress material, bed covers, cushion covers, elegant dupatta and stolls on the offer are all unique. (PNN)
