|
March
29, 2001
Kurigram, Mar 28 (UNB)- Handloom Industry in Roumari upazila has been facing setback due to various reasons, including lack of modern equipment.
Despite having necessary training, many weavers of Bandber and Dantbhanga unions of the upazila had to give up their occupation due to lack of working capital.
Not only that about 6,000 weavers have already engaged themselves in other occupations to eke out their living.
A few weavers from Tangail district migrated to Roumari in 40s. They used to earn profit and lead a decent living by selling various products, including saree, napkin, lungi and bedcover.
As the clothes, designed and knitted by local weavers, gained much popularity among the people, a good number of weavers joined the industry here in a bid to make them self-reliant.
“Those had been happier days,” said an octogenarian weaver Zafar Ali Pir Saheb (85), who was involved in handloom industry since the very beginning.
A large number of traders from various districts, including Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Dinajpur, Lalmonirhat and Tangail, used to come here to buy clothes knitted by local weavers, he added.
Business was brisk when there were some 1,400 handlooms in the upazila, he said adding Bangladesh Handloom Board formed five associations in a bid to distribute loans among the weavers.
The President of Handloom Association, however, told this correspondent that the handloom industry has been facing setback due to lack of fresh loans for the weavers.
|
