Munshiganj artisans struggle to keep their craft alive

Monipara, a village in Sirajdikhan upazila under the district, is always abuzz with sounds of craft work as 90 per cent of its residents are engaged in producing craft items.

Practicing a traditional craft is not only a livelihood for the villagers; it is also a social activity. Residents often sit together in their shades and make craft products with the help of bamboo and cane strips.

A recent visit to the vicinity finds that over 80 families in the village are involved in ancestral profession, with youngsters found keen to participate in it after they get back from school.

The demotion to artisanship is more of a sentimental link to their ancestry besides being a profession.

However, artisans of this village are worried due to low sales and absence of customers in the district’s weekend haats (markets) as they do not have any alternative source of income amid the Covid-19.

At the same time, the overall sale has gone down because of its lackluster demand in domestic and global markets.

A minimal sale is compelling them to maintain their families by taking loans from their neighbours, relatives and NGOs. Some of them go to Dhaka for earning money during this time of the year.

Pushpo Rani Das, a craftswoman, said she has been in this profession for the last 50 years and now she is facing difficulty to keep the profession up due to the drawback the industry has faced in the wake of the pandemic.

“I along with my sons, daughters, daughter-in-law, am involved in making craft. I used to earn enough to run my family. But now it is different,” she added.

Suvash Das, owner of M/S Modhupur Kutir Shilpo, told The Business Post he learned this craft from his father, and this is his ancestral profession like many others in the village.

“We mainly make handmade household goods of over 100 designs including chandelier, lamp, tray, sofa set, vase, mirror, and sell them to domestic market through brokers. Our products can be found all over Bangladesh but mainly in the capital markets. We also export our products,” he said.

“We have a huge stock of products, but due to the pandemic, we cannot sell them. In the last two years, the demand has fallen while raw materials procurement is also a big problem.”

Suvash told The Business Post he has to pay at least Tk 12,000 to each of his 60 employees as salary, and he is running out of his capital.

“Now if the government doesn’t offer any help to us, we would have to leave our ancestral profession,” he said.

Echoing the same as Suvash, another factory owner of the village, Pandit Das, said they usually collect cane from different adjacent districts, but due to the pandemic-induced lockdown they are having a shortage of cane and other raw materials.

“We are not getting enough cane to run our factories. As the demand gets higher, so is the price. The price for our products has gone down,” he explained.

“The brokers sell these products at much higher prices than they buy from us. But whenever we have to raise our prices due to shortage of raw materials, they don’t pay heed to us, and we face losses.”

“If the government helps us find a way to sell these products to customers directly, we will be able to benefit a lot and keep our tradition alive,” he further said.

Nirmal Das, a craftsman in the area, argued that more than 20 people work under him, and he has to pay over Tk 2,50,000 each month as wages despite being unable to sell his products for the last two years.

“It is becoming so difficult to run my factory. We need government support through loans and incentives, or else we won’t be able to retain this tradition,” he reasoned out.

Deputy Manager of Munshiganj Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) Mohammad Abdullah said: “The government has announced a loan for the artisans with a 4 per cent interest rate, which will prove beneficial for the cane industry.”

“If the businessmen form a group and apply to us, they will get a much bigger amount of loans. Not only that we also arrange fairs to promote their craft and increase sales. However, we could not arrange those for the last two years due to Covid-19,” he added.

BSCIC has a website to promote and sell these products, Abdullah said, adding that, “If the artisans come to us, we will post the pictures of their products online and people from home and abroad would be willing to buy them.”

Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Sirajdikhan Md Foyezul Islam told The Business Post the craftsmen in this area have been suffering economically due to the Covid-19 situation.

“We tried our best to help them. If they need financial help, different NGOs, public and private organisations are ready to help them with loans,” he added.