"It has been 40 years and I could not get a pucca house from the government. While our products are sold in Delhi, Mumbai, and in Bhubaneswar, nobody knows us and neither anyone is concerned about our plights," rued Jagabandhu Panika, a Kotpad saree weaver from Botasana village under Koraput’s Kotpad block.
And unfortunately, he is not alone. There are many more such weavers who weave magic with their hands but are forced to languish in neglect. Forget about getting a pucca house, these weavers even find it hard to provide two square meals to their family if they do not sit to weave even for a single day due to illness or other reasons.
Tilottama Tanti from nearby Bhansuli village who is forced to hold on to the loom immediately after finishing her school said, “We can make a maximum of 10 sarees in a month. It fetches us a little money. I have learned it from my father and brother. But sadly, we have not received any government assistance till now.”
The Kotpad Mirigani saree is also famous among consumers and is at par with Sambalpuri or Berhampuri sarees. But unfortunately, the Utkalika shop under the Odisha government’s Handlooms, Textiles, and Handicrafts department in Jeypore does not have a single Kotpad saree.
“I know the famous Kotpad mirigani saree is made here in our district. But I do not have the stock of that saree despite giving an indent to the office for the same several times. Usually, the office sends us the saree that we sell in our branches,” said the Jeypore Branch Manager of Utkalika.
The reason is stated to be more than one. Be it the rise in prices of raw materials, the absence of market, or duplicate sarees flooding the market, all these are pushing the weavers into poverty and the government’s alleged apathy does not help either.
“Our situation is so dire that we did not even get a loan to purchase weaving apparatus,” said Jagabandhu.
However, the officials say there are enough market opportunities and government incentives for Kotpad sarees. “The new designs of sarees are bought by Boyanika and other buyers from outside of the State. Even the State government is providing them raw materials. Even then, if the weavers demand anything else, we will definitely help them.”
Notably, National Handloom Day is marked annually on August 7 as a tribute to the handloom-weaving community of India and to highlight the contribution of this sector to the socio-economic development of the country. The date connects with the freedom struggle when Mahatma Gandhi launched the Swadeshi Movement in 1905 to encourage indigenous industries and in particular handloom weavers.