India’s Bareilly Carpet Industry on Verge of Extin
Uttar Pradesh, India, September 6--The carpet industry of the Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh is on the verge of extinction, with the poor weavers not being able to sell their finished products in the absence of an institutional mechanism for marketing, according to webindia123.com.
The five thousand odd weavers of the once booming industry toil day and night to manage a two-time meal for their family, but lack of of any proper marketing mechanism makes the situation worse.
Inmaz Hussain, a weaver in the profession for more than four decades, said that things won't improve unless the Governemnt takes some initiative to provide them with thread and loom.
"We request the government to provide us all kind of help, like providing us with looms and threads for weaving. We would also request the government to help us in exporting finished products to other countries," said Hussain.
Another weaver, Riaz Ahmed, said, "I have been in this profession from the early sixties. We could never earn a decent amount. We work for more than 8 hours a day and earn only Rs 70 to 80."
The weavers lament that earlier the government-owned Uttar Pradesh handloom Cooperation used to buy their products and organise trade fairs in various parts of the country, which provided a ready market for their carpets. But, with the gradual withdrawl of the Government's support, these markets have also dried up.
The weavers cooperative, formed in 1974 to provide a forum for marketing finished products, is now counting its days because of a cash-crunch.
Bareilly has a substantial section of the population employed in carpet weaving, with more than 5000 men and women engaged in the trade. The traditional Bareilly carpet is made from cotton yarn and is priced between 300 to 500 rupees. (ANI)
