No help, weaver community in dire straits

NABARANGPUR: The weaver community here, comprising a few hundred families spread across the district, is living in distress, forced to abandon the hereditary profession and migrate for greener pastures. The State Government and the district administration are apparently oblivious of their struggle to gain a foothold in the business.Settled in Sanmasigam, Bhatigam, Mundaguda, Moedigam, Korchamal, Kusumguda, Dengapadar, Chatahandi, Dongiriguda and Saranpur villages, the weavers used to operate individually, earning mere crumbs with a strictly local customer base. Realising the need to reach out to a larger clientele, a few veterans in the profession set up the ‘Jananimata Weavers Co-operative Society,’ in 1985. A plot was purchased at Sanmasigam and a permanent structure constructed for the society that kindled hopes of doing brisk business among the weaver society,  languishing in penury. During the initial years, the society lived up to its expectations. However, the good days soon passed as Madhu Tanti, a founding member of the society, recounts, “Those at the helm of affairs in society, driven by vested interests, overlooked the plight of the poor and illiterate weavers and misappropriated funds. This was a terrible blow to the community. The weavers are yet to recuperate.” For the last two decades, the community has been living in tatters. Migration to Chhattisgarh to earn a livelihood or abandoning weaving for profitable ventures is common. Those who still aspire to a earn a living out of the profession, depend on dealers from Jagdalpur in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh for raw materials. They toil at workshops here and send the finished products back to Chhattisgarh, charging anything between ` 20 and ` 50 a metre of cloth, depending on the effort put in.“The Government has been indifferent to our plight despite several appeals. We get no help from society. Government officials sweet talk us into retreating with promises of amends whenever we approach them. But nothing tangible has been done so far,” Madhu alleged.