Bhagalpuri Silk industry needs reforms

Bhagalpur’s silk industry is waiting for the government to take some steps, to improve the quality of life of the weavers, as handloom is the main source of employment in this region. The problems that these weavers face are innumerable।

BHAGALPUR, ONE of the biggest silk producing regions of India, is waiting for new initiatives. Handloom is the second largest employment generator after agriculture in India. According to the textile ministry, there is one lakh weavers in Bihar. In Bhagalpur, there are only 30,000 weavers. According to the government, the region has 200 crore annual turnover. Bhagalpuri silks are exported to all the major city in India and also abroad like Europe, America and Australia.

The basic problems of Bhagalpur silk industry are financial crisis, lack of silk fibre and lack of appropriate marketing infrastructure. Weavers cannot get bank loan easily, they have to fulfill lots of formalities. In spite of all these formalities, corruption in loan distribution is a big problem for them. Due to lack of capital, the weavers are forced to borrow money from private moneylenders, to carry on their business.

Lack of silk fibre store is another big problem, which further adds misery to the conditions of these weavers. As a result, weavers are compelled to buy foreign silk, which is bad for the uniqueness of this industry.

Another problem is the marketing of ready goods. Most of the local silk buyers are only agents of big buyers and they want big profit for themselves, therefore they force the weavers to sell their goods on a rate fixed by them. Weavers have no other option, but to sell their products according to the middlemen’s choice.

The other trend is, weaver gets yarn from middlemen and weave cloth and get back to them. Middlemen give them money for this, but that is very less compared to the work done by the weavers and only middlemen can decide the quality of work.

So, there is an urgent need to take new steps for the development of Bhagalpur silk industry and weavers.