BARPALLI IKAT WEAVING CLUSTER

DIAGNOSTIC STUDY

UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION

Cluster Development Programme

Contents
S. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. Item Page No .s

Global scenario of handlooms Handlooms in India Position of Orissa in handlooms Barpalli Ikat Weaving Cluster Evolution of the cluster Structure of the cluster Production Process Value Chain Analysis Analysis of business operations including credit need analysis for the cluster Support Institutions Social capital of the cluster Infrastructure Analysis Current Cluster Map SWOT Analysis Vision Implementation Strategy Action Plan Annexures:

1- 2 2 3-4 45 57 7 10 10 14 14 15 16 20 20 24 25 29 30 Annexure 3 30 31 31 31 33 33 - 35

Annexure 1: Annexure 2: Annexure 3: Annexure 4: Annexure 5: Annexure 6: Annexure 7: Annexure 8:

India: Financial year wise, sector wise and variety wise production of cloth India: Export trends in textiles, especially handlooms Current Cluster Map Present product range of Barpali Cluster Benchmarking of Barpali cluster with Sonepur cluster List of usual holidays of weavers in Barpali cluster List of local clubs in Barpali cluster Details of Master Weavers & State/ National Awardees of Barpali Cluster

1. Global Scenario of Handlooms

andlooms have remained not only one of the important options of livelihoods but have also been the saviours of the various traditional skills that have been inherited by the weavers over generations. The unique and high -skill oriented processes for creating the exquisite fabrics have helped the handloom tradition survive the onslaught of automated production systems. It is estimated that today there are about 4.60 million handlooms in the world out of which about 3.9 million are in India 1. The total handloom production in India was about 5493 million square metres during 2003 04. While the major producers are India followed by Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal, the main importers of textiles & clothing were the USA, UK, France and Italy. One of the unique processes in handloom weaving i s the Ikat style of weaving. Ikat is a tie-dye process on either the warp 2 or weft or both according to the designs needs and then weaving the yarns to achieve the design. When only warp or weft is tie and dyed, it is called Single Ikat, whereas when both the warp and weft are tie-dyed, it is called a Double Ikat. Ikats have been woven in cultures all over the world. In the 19th century, the Silk Road desert oases of Bukhara and Samarkand (in what is now Uzbekistan in Central Asia) were famous for their fine silk ikats. Today Ikat is still common in Central and South America especially in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico. Similarly India, Japan and several South-East Asia countries have cultures with long histories of Ikat production. There are known links between Ikat production in India and trade of Ikat to South-East Asia. Patola cloth, a double ikat from Gujarat, used to be exported to Indonesia for the use of the royal families. The patterns in the Patola Ikats are strikingly simi lar to the double ikats produced in Bali, Indonesia. Whether Ikat technique developed in India or any one country alone and then spread from there, or whether it simultaneously evolved in several countries, is not clearly known. As such, in spite of the process being essentially the same, it has been ascribed different names in different countries. It is called Bandha or Bandhni or Ikat in India, Iyo - kasuri in Japan, Iban in Indonesia and Abrdandi or "banded cloud" in Central American countries. However, the term Ikat derives its origin from the word Mengikat of Malay language where it means "to bind, tie or wind around". Through common usage the word has come to describe both the process and the cloth itself. Ikats are often symbols of status, wealth, power and prestige. Perhaps because of the difficulty and time required to make ikats, some cultures go to the extent of believing that the cloth is imbued with magical powers. If one can draw a benchmark of Ikat fabrics of these countrie s and that of India, the information available tells that Endek cloths (the Ikat fabrics of Bali) face competition from
1

Source: Compendium of Textile Statistics 2004 and Compendium of International Textile Statistics 2005 Published by O/o Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles, GOI)
2

Warp is a set of yarns in woven fabrics that runs length wise and parallel to the selvedge and is inter woven with the set of yarns running along the width of the fabric (which is termed as weft).

the printed fabrics of Java or Lombok and turn out to be slightly more expensive. A skilful weaver of Bali is able to weave not more tha n two meters a day. In comparison to this an Ikat weaver of Orissa is not able to weave more than a metre per day and in case of complicated designs such as the Geet Govind, this becomes even lesser.

2. Handlooms in India

andlooms play a significant role in the Indian economy owing to their rural employment potential3, next only to agriculture, and also for their contribution to exports 4 from the country. Since 1960 and up to 95, the share of handloom production in the total textile production remained more or less constant at about 23%. However after 1995, it started declining and is pegged at 13% during 2004 - 055. The tradition of handlooms is so strong that the entire country is dotted with places famous for some or the other handloom product. If specifically the centres of ikat are to be considered then there are only three states that can boast of this unique tradition Gujarat, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. In Gujarat it is only the Patan area, which produces the Patola sari, a wedding sari for the women of Kathiawar region. In Andhra Pradesh the main areas producing Ikats are the Chirala area and the Nalgonda district (famous for Pochampalli saris). It is only Orissa, which has the tradition of Ikat across almost the entire state, mainly centr ed in Bolangir Sonepur Bargarh Sambalpur districts in the Western parts, Cuttack district in the eastern part and the Kalahandi Sundergarh districts in the southern parts of the state. The Ikats of Orissa stand apart from the rest other ikat traditions due to the unique design range that they possess, derived from nature and religious themes. Thus while Ikats of Orissa have a wide range of flowers, trellis patterns, animals, gods and goddesses and images from day to day life as their motifs, most other ikat patterns have either geometric or diffused abstract forms as their motifs. The fine nature of these difficult -to-weave motifs is possible due to the fine tying and dyeing skills and thereafter weaving skills of the weavers of Orissa who do not allow any distortions in these motifs during the course of weaving. Handloom products have been a major part of export basket of the country. Made ups, Dhotis and furnishing have been the major contributors to the Handloom exports basket. Furthermore, the majority of these exports have been to Europe, USA and other Asian countries.

A recent study undertaken by the Planning Commission sug gests that some 12.4 million persons are directly engaged in handloom weaving, of which 60% are women, and12% are from SC & 20% are from ST categories.
4

The total share of handlooms in textile exports from India is about 10% (EXIM: 2001). The textiles c ontribute about 35% to the countrys exports.
5

Kindly refer to annexure 1 for more details

3. Position of Orissa in handlooms

andlooms are a key element of the Orissas economy. The Handloom Census of 1987 -88 indicated Orissa's population of handloom weavers at 415,000. Of this, almost 30% were members of the poorer and relatively disadvantaged Scheduled Castes (SC). Amongst the population of weavers almost 40% worked on a full -time basis as weavers, and the industry provided direct employment to 244,000 persons. However, Handlooms census (1995-96) shows that Orissa's handloom sector generated employment for 208,000 persons 6. Further, a more recent survey undertaken by the Textiles Committee suggests a total population of just under 100,000 handloom weavers 7. About 55% of these weavers were found to be from Orissa's western region. About 85% of the weaver households had only a single loom, while less than 1% had more than four looms. The bulk of weaver households came from the other backward castes (76.4% of al l weaver households) and scheduled castes (17.5% of all weaver households) communities providing ample evidence of a correlation between weaving and the low incomes and asset base of weaver households. The weaver population of Orissa can be categorised in to the following typologies: Type I (Entrepreneur weavers) : buy raw material on their own, work on their own designs and then market their products through a variety of local channels, traders etc. Type II (Labourer weavers) - Weavers linked to master weavers: who receive the raw material and design brief from the master weaver and pass on the final product to them and receive their weaving wages in return Type III - Cooperative fold weavers : Weavers linked to the primary cooperative societies which procure raw material, pass it on to the attached weavers, pay them wages and then market the final products on their own/ through apex cooperative society (BOYANIKA).

While the type I weavers are quite few in numbers in the state, it is estimated that at least 61%of the handloom production in Orissa moves through master -weavers. Alike most other states, most of the handloom cooperatives in Orissa have turned defunct with heavy financial crisis and piled up / blocked stocks. Despite this weavers continue their relationship with the cooperative societies also. It is significant to note that while the cooperatives have been receiving regular support of the government, the private master weavers and traders have built their procurement as well as sales linka ges on their own. There is however also a possibility that some of these master weavers and traders have grown out from the cooperative fold, due to their entrepreneurship and comparatively higher risk taking intentions and ability than the other weavers. Yet again there has been an effort by various local NGOs, through government schemes and institutions to organise weavers in the form of SHGs, juxtaposing these as an alternative weavers organisation to reach out to markets and tap the various government schemes support. However, this seems to have not gained any significant movement. The focus of the state government
6 7

Planning Commission 2002:227 -8 Textiles Committee 2003:14

department of textiles and handlooms has largely been cooperatives which have been created, supported and administered by their officials. Orissas handloom base is made of two distinct types of products, the low quality plain fabrics that are used for towels, dhotis and plain saris (often referred to as 'Janata' or people's cloth) and the other of high quality, design intensive tie and dye 'Ikat' and 'Bomkai' fabrics. While the first category of low quality low skill handloom production has been facing the stiff competition from power looms at the price front, the other category of high skill- high quality fabrics, which have bought fame f or the state, have not been able to reach out to the desired markets in a sustained manner. Orissa is especially famous for its Ikat tradition which as mentioned earlier, is a state wide phenomenon. These are produced in both cotton and in silk. The main products are saris (which accounted for 71% of total handloom production 8), but increasingly weavers are producing ladies dress material, scarves, bed covers and other home furnishing fabrics. Given the nature of the designs and the tie and dye process, i kat fabrics cannot be easily replicated by power looms. However, the artisanal skills involved in producing tie and dye ikat fabrics, which were unique to Orissa, have been copied, albeit at a lower quality, in bordering states such as Andhra Pradesh. Yet it is usually acknowledged that the art of ikat originated from Orissa. Orissa Ikat saris have high demand across the country, especially for celebratory functions.

4. Barpali Ikat Weaving Cluster

he Ikat Handloom Cluster of Barpalli is located in the western part of Orissa and comprises of three villages of Barpalli and one village of Bijepur block of Bargarh district. As shown in the map at Annexure 3, the cluster consists of about 215 looms in Barpalli town, 288 looms in Bandhpali village, 180 looms in Baghbadi village of Barpalli Block; and about 192 looms in Jalpalli village of Bijepur block. While Barpalli is situated 21 kilometres from the district head quarter Bargarh, Bandhpali, Baghbadi and Jalpalli are 7km, 9 km and 9 km respectively from Barpalli town. The entire Barpalli Block of Bargarh district has an area of 282 sq. kms. and 18 Gram Panchayats has 1894 looms spread over 54 villages. However 3 villages of the block namely Barpalli, Bandhpalli and Baghbadi have nearly 36% of the total looms. Nearby village of Jalpalli of Bijepur block has another 192 looms. Thus these four villages have been taken to constitute a cluster. With a total population of approximately 20,000 in the chosen 4 locations, it is estimated that approximately 24% of the this population is dependent on handloom weaving and allied activities i.e. raw material selling, trading, tie & dyeing, etc. The total annual production of the cluster from the above mentioned four production centres is estimated at about Rs. 4.25 crores, with the following share of the prevalent product ranges:
8

Double Ikat Cotton (of 2/120s cotton) or Sakta or Passa Palli saris about 35% Sambalpuri cotton single ikat saris (of 2/120s to 2/80s) about 45%
Textiles Committee 2003:21

Dress material (of 2/60s to 2/100s) about 15% Tussar silk/Bafta (cotton + tussar) saris about 5%

Further details of these product ranges can be seen at annexure 4. In order to assess the relative position of Barpalli cluster vis--vis another cluster of similar nature, a benchmarking of Barpalli cluster with Sonepur cluster of Orissa has been attempted and is shown at Annexure 5. It would be worthwhile to mention here that Barpalli cluster has about 2150 independent weavers, i.e. the type I weavers. It is also Weaving of a Bafta sari important to note that the weavers of even the Costa community, who were earlier into tussar weaving in the cluster, have moved on to cotton weaving, though of slightly coarser count.

5. Evolution of the Cluster

arpalli village was established by the royal Chauhan family of S ambalpur during the last part of 17th century. The growth of weaving activity in the area is ascribed to the advent of the Bhulia Meher community in around 1765 AD from Sonepur. Bhulia Mehers are said to have been original inhabitants of Rajasthan and Delhi from where they moved to Dhamantari and Dhansa villages of Raipur district of Chhattisgarh. Later on, they were brought to Patnagarh of Bolangir district after the first Chauhan King Ramai Deb ascended the throne of Bolangir Patna. It is presumed that the original Bhulia Meher community, after settling down in the region, intermingled with the other castes too and soon the Costa Mehers (who are usually tussar weavers) and Kuli Mehers (who are the least skilled labour class) came into existence. The Barpalli cluster predominantly consists of the Bhulia and Costa Mehers. Costa and Bhulia caste figures around 30% and 60% respectively each, where as Harijan/ Kuli caste accounts for 10% only of the total weaver population in the cluster. The impetus to the weaving activity in the modern times came with the establishment of Sambalpuri Vastralaya during the year 1942 as a partnership business amongst late Padamshri Krutartha Ch. Acharya and 4 other skilled weavers. At that time 50 to 60 looms were engaged in producing coarse count cotton sari, dhoti, napkin, lungi, handkerchief etc. There was a production centre established in Barpalli town to provide raw material to the weavers and receive the final product for further marketing. During the year 1954, Sambalpuri Vastralaya got registered under the Bihar and Orissa Cooperative Societies Act by the State government with an objective to upscale the activities of this outfit and provide support under prevalent government programmes so as to promote the socio-economic conditions of the poor weavers and to provide regular employment to them. The society then had a dyeing unit at Tora near Bargarh and used to supply the dyed yarns to the production centre at Barpalli from where the raw material was 5

made available to the weavers. The weavers used to get Rs.10/ - to 12/- per month as wages during that period. During the year 1956, one voluntary organisation namely, American Friends Service Committee working in the area for community development, extended h and to help the skilled weaver artisans of Barpalli area through exporting the fabrics to abroad like USA, Canada, Great Britain and Australia. Some of the items like table clothes, handkerchiefs, bed sheets of coarse counts were produced during the perio d. The organisation worked till 1966 for a period of over 10 years. Thus one sees that some diversification in products had happened even during those times, which interestingly is not seen in the cluster presently. This indicates towards the lack of continuity of the efforts for product diversification and niche market linkages possibly due to the absence of a suitable local governance mechanism in the cluster which could have carried on the activities of the society and effectively utilised the resources created by it. It is worthwhile to note that concomitantly the state government went on to create more cooperative societies which were registered during this period as Janata Vastralaya in 1957, Utkal Vastralaya (late 1960s), Meher Arts & Crafts (1971 ), Ananta Narayan Tie & Dye Weavers Co-operative Society (1977), Jalpali Weavers Co -operative Societies (1981) etc. In order to sustain the cooperative societies created in the region, the state government provided a lot of support in form of subsidies, margin money, rebate, market development assistance and technical assistance through its Assistant Director Textiles (ADT) offices and their Weaving Supervisors and Textile Inspectors during 1980 1990. Further to provide marketing support to the increas ed production through the primary weaver cooperative societies, the birth of the Apex Society of the state - BOYANIKA took place during this period. Sambalpuri Vastralaya also grew through this heightened support to become one of the largest cooperative s in the country. During this period, these institutions procured about 70 80% of the total production of the primary societies and were able to provide regular payments leading to sustainable employment for the weaver community. This led to a furthe r increase in the production base within the state by inculcating more men and women into weaving activity, even if being capable of producing only a fabric of low skill and quality, by utilising the various schemes support for assistance in form of looms, accessories, margin money, work shed, CFC, etc. Efforts were made to improve the skills of the individual weavers as well as the societies through lots of training and some exposure to outside states. However one sees, that during this period, while lot of capacity building on production side was carried out, there was hardly any capacity building of the local weavers or the local societies for marketing and actual market -led design and product diversification, assuming that the large size Apex Cooperative Society BOYANIKA as well as Sambalpuri Vastralaya would be able to take care of this. But as one finds out, as these institutions could not keep pace with the markets, developed in -house problems and relied more and more on capital assistance, in form of Market Development Assistance (MDA) and Marketing Incentive (MI), for achieving sales rather than their own capacity building and thus could not grow in line with the market needs. Thus, the marketing efforts 6

of even these apex institutions were subsid ised to a great extent to make the system survive. During the early 1990s itself, the support from these institutions started dwindling due to their own internal problems and thus the off take for marketing by these agencies reduced to as low as 10% of the total production. Moreover, lot of payments got stuck from the support institutions and thus this whole system, which was surviving solely on these supports, collapsed. Thus the weavers had to switch over to the employment being provided by the master weavers, national and state awardees etc. One also finds that the product range which earlier had ikats produced both on cotton as well as silk, is now mainly in cottons only and in that too in a range of yarn combinations of 2/60s to 2/120s as per the need of the market. The collapse of the government support to the PWCS also led to the upsurge in the private raw material suppliers who now dominate the market and control the prices of the cotton yarn procured by the weavers. Exploitation by these traders by way of initially providing raw material and then buying off the finished product at their own terms and further providing raw material to the weavers has also begun in the cluster now. Presently most of the independent weavers are buying the raw materia l from these traders situated in Barpalli and Bargarh and selling their produce in the weekly haat at Balejuri market, the details of which are further given in the report.

6. Structure of Cluster
6.1 Core Cluster Actors

The core stakeholders of the cluster are the weavers, master weavers and the National/ State Awardees. The evolution of the weavers into master weavers and then of some of the master weavers into the awardees tells about the organics relations that these core cluster actors enjoy amongst themselves. This further shows how the growth of the cluster has provided opportunities to a weaver to develop into a fine craftsperson and also an entrepreneur. The clusters growth is today primarily shared by the awardees and the master weavers, who have moved out of the state to seek better markets for their fine products. They have been able to also earn reputation for the traditional craft at various levels and can be considered to be the saviours of the ikat tradition in the cluster. The details of these cluster actors are as follows:

6.1.1 Master Weavers

Previously, this category of weavers was engaged in weaving only but today it undertakes the overall responsibility of buying and supplying the raw material to the weavers, providing design brief and wages to these weavers and then supplying the finished products to the markets. Around 42 master weavers are actively involved in the cluster out of which 18 are located in Barpalli town, 19 are located in Jalpalli village, 4 are in Baghbadi village and 1 in Bandhpalli village. They have about 160 looms working in the cluster and also get weaving done on contractual basis from about 766 weavers who have their own looms. One master weaver of Bandhpalli village has a factory type set up on the way to Bandhpalli 7

village from Barpalli, where about 10 looms are installed and all the activities of tying and dyeing as well as weaving are done in -house. This production is exclusively made for distant markets and supply of uniforms to the colleges of the state. On an average, directly or indirectly, each master weaver controls anything from 10 -15 looms to about 35-40 looms. Considering the usual investment of raw material in a typical ikat sari made in the cluster and the optimum rotation of cash being in 3 months, it i s estimated that a smaller master weaver with 10 15 looms puts in about Rs. 1.5 lakhs for his micro enterprise while a comparatively bigger master weaver with 35 40 looms has to block about Rs. 4.5 lakhs as working capital.

6.1.2 National/State Awardees

Some of the master weavers have excelled in the craft in so much that their skills have been recognised by the State/ Central government. As such the cluster has about 11 National/ State Awardees amongst the master weavers of the cluster. Out of the 18 master weavers of Barpalli town, 10 have received the state/ national award while 1 master weaver of Jalpalli has been bestowed with this honour. They are actively involved in innovation of new designs and marketing activities and have been able to nurture ma rket linkages outside the state due to their participations in the various fairs and exhibitions sponsored by the State/ Central government and thus ensure links with upmarket marketing channels. While five awardees of Barpalli still continue to act as mas ter weavers for their weavers, the other five have moved up the ladder and now devote their energy only in creating new designs, passing on these to other master weavers attached to them 9 and order a certain number of pieces of the design for onward market ing. The relationship depicts a certain level of mutual trust where the design secrecy is maintained by the master weavers for their awardees link and also tells about the relative lack of market links of the master weavers who do not have the right consum er segment to be tapped for innovative designs. They are mostly dependent on government supported exhibitions, especially from October-November to February-March where they sell around 80 to 90% of their products.

6.1.3 Weavers
There are about 875 working l ooms and 2450 persons are involved in the weaving activity spread in the four villages. The majority of the weavers belong to either Costa or Bhulia community and have good skills. Each Meher10 weaver family earns about Rs. 2500/- per month. The weavers belonging to the Harijan community are semi skilled and are mainly engaged in weaving of coarse count Janata cloth varieties. Their family wage earning ranges from Rs. 1200/- to Rs. 1500/- per month. Since the entire family gets involved in the activity, the preparatory processes like bleaching & dyeing, opening of yarn, winding and tie & dye being done by the women and children of the family and the starching, warping, weaving and exclusive tie & dye activities being done by the male members of the family,

10

Usually 1 awardee has linkages with 1 3 master weavers

Meher is a weaving community of Orissa mainly expert in tie & dye activity and comes under OBC category.

this income level turns insufficient for overall growth of the household and just a subsistence level of living is achieved through the weaving activity. The weavers of Barpali cluster can be classified into the following types as per the broad category of the weavers of the state mentioned in the preceding paragraphs: Type I: The Entrepreneur Weavers (EW) weavers buying their own raw material, producing the fabric and then selling the same at local haat, through traders etc. These weavers, with a total population of about 2150 in the cluster, mainly operate at the local haat. These constitute about 65% of the total weaver population of the cluster. Some of them are organised in the form of Self Help Groups (SHGs) about 26 in number, and some are also linked (on paper) with some cooperative society. Normally, this category of weavers produce clothes like single ikat/ double ikat cotton saris which are predominantly consumed in the local market. Type II : The Contractual Weavers (CW) weavers attached to the master weavers with a low risk and a seemingly low to moderate exploitatio n by the master weavers in terms of low wages. The 42 master weavers of the cluster supervise and work with about 300 weavers.

However, it is important to note that most of the type I and Type II weavers are those who were at some point of time the type III weavers, i.e. attached to the cooperative societies earlier. Although there are around 880 weavers enrolled as members of the 3 primary co operative societies, there are h ardly 50 weavers at present working under the co-operative fold. As the cooperative societies have collapsed, the weavers have switched over to either independent operations or got linked with the master weavers.

6.1.4 Tie & Dyers

There are about 650 tie and dyers, who prepare exclusively tie & dye design and sell them to the weavers/master weavers and also in the market. The skill of the tie & dye is very unique and owing to the fine count cotton yarn being used, the product from the cluster possesses potential for suitable design and market facilitation inputs. In fact, these tie and dyers are always in demand since the tied and dyed yarn from the cluster is also bought by the weavers of other handloom weaving clusters, especially of the eastern and coast al regions of Orissa where the skill of ikat is not very pronounced. Depending upon the complexity of the design, which is decided by the size of the motif, its repeat size, the number of colours being required for the design and the fineness of the work , the tied and dyed yarn set for usually a pallu of a sari or the border of a sari fetches about Rs. 20 - 50 (only border) to Rs. 70 300 (for pallu of the sari). Most of these persons are of Bhulia Meher caste and do not wish to pass on this skill to o ther people who usually find the intricacies of this tying and dyeing technique quite difficult.

6.2 Other Cluster Actors 6.2.1 Raw material suppliers

The main raw materials required by the cluster are cotton, silk and tussar yarns. Cotton yarn is obtained from traders/suppliers having linkages with the cotton mills of Tamil Nadu/ Maharashtra whereas mulberry/ tussar yarns are purchased from Karnataka and Chhattisgarh respectively. This is usually through various promotional agencies like NHDC, Sambalpuri Vastralaya, BOYANIKA etc. who supply gray, bleached or dyed yarn to the weavers. Raw materials are also available in the weekly local market from the bulk suppliers located in Bargarh and Barpalli There are 5 traders each from Barpalli as well as Bargarh who regularly supply various types of yarns, dyestuffs and chemicals to master weavers and weavers.

6.2.2 Equipment Suppliers

Mostly, pit looms of up to 52 56 inches are being used in the cluster in which Dobbys of 4 to 12 hooks are used for borders. Nearly 7 0 80% of the looms of the cluster have a dobby attachment. Although there is no loom supplier in the cluster, there are certain weavers who purchase raw wood from the market and with the help of the local carpenters they prepare and install the loom. However, there are 5 accessories supplier available in the cluster. Besides, accessories are also available in the local weekly market.

6.2.3 Traders
There are about 20 traders who take care of marketing of Barpalli handloom fabrics. Out of these 20, about 15 traders procure fabrics directly from weavers in addition to procurement from the master weavers. Some of these traders have retail outlets in Barpalli town. In addition to selling local handloom fabrics, these traders also sell the handlooms of other states like Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. About 5 -6 traders have business contacts in other cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai with the wholesalers.

7. Production Process

he various steps involved in the production of the handloom fabrics in Barpalli cluster are given in Annexure 3. Some of the important processes are discussed below.

7.1 Preparation of yarn

The raw material i.e. cotton and tussar/mulberry yarn is procured in hank form by the weavers / master weavers from the local yarn dealers / Sambalpuri Vastralaya / local market who in turn get the silk from Karnataka, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Cotton from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra. The cotton yarns procured are mainly pre -dyed and usually of 2/120s, 2/100s, 2/80s and the silk filaments ar e grey in nature and have fineness of 20 -22 denier. In the case of tussar yarn, sometimes the weavers purchase tussar cocoons from outside market like Chhattisgarh, Raipur and spin tussar yarn from the cocoon. The gray yarn requires further processing befo re being put on the loom for weaving.

10

7.2 Bleaching & Dyeing

Both the cotton and silk threads are bleached and dyed by the weavers themselves. The maximum quantity of threads dyed is for two to four saris only. VAT and Naphthol -Fast Base dyes are used fo r dyeing cotton hank yarns where as Acid dyes are used for dyeing silk filaments. The process sequences of cotton and silk yarns used by the weavers are given below: Cotton: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Soaking of yarns over night in a caustic soda and soap solution Washing of yarns with canal water Whitening of yarns using surf/ Tinopal Washing of yarns Dyeing of yarns using VAT and naphthol - base separately.

Silk: 1. Soaking of gray silk with water for over night 2. Degumming of silk using soap and soda ash and boil for 30 minutes 3. Washing of filaments using tap water 4. Dyeing of filaments using Acid dyes at about 80 oC for around 30 minutes. The entire process is done by the weavers at their homes using stoves, improper uten sils and crude make-shift kind of gadgets. The process parameters like temperature, time, quantity of chemicals to be taken etc. are therefore not within the control of the weavers. As a result, poor quality of dyeing and thus poor quality fabrics is a fea ture of the cluster.

7.3 Warping
The preparation of yarns for separation, grouping and sub grouping is known as warping. Here, warping is done by peg warping method using wooden pegs. These wooden pegs are placed along the whole length of the yarn so tha t a continuously criss-crossed set of two yarns may be obtained for the weaving process which helps in finding out the broken yarn on the loom during the course of weaving.

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Production Process Product Single Ikat Sambalpuri Cotton Sari

Procurement of Raw material (2/120s Grey Cotton Yarn, Dyes & Chemicals)

Opening of Bundle & Rewinding /Making Chains

Soaking of Hank with Water for Overnight

Squeezing of yarn and opening

Warp

Bleaching and Drying

Weft

Dyeing of Warp

Weft (Anchal Tie & Dyeing) Anchal Weaving Dobby Attachment

Wheel Winding

Wheel Winding

Peg Warping Body Weaving Pirn Winding Setting of Tie & Dye Frame

Peg Warping

Sizing

Preparation of Healed(option)

Opening of Tied Yarn

Winding/Fitting Of Warp with Reed

Dyeing & Drying Loom Setting

Tying as per Design

Production Process Product Cotton/Silk Bafta Sari with Phada Kumbha Design
Procurement of Raw materials 2/120s Grey mercerised Cotton Yarn Weft (Tassar/Silk)

Warp (Cotton)

Opening of Bundle & Rewinding Soaking of Hank with Water for Overnight

Weft (Anchal Tie & Dye)

Opening of Bundle & Rewinding

Anchal Weaving Soaking of hank with Water for overnight Body Weaving

Squuezing of yarn & Opening

Dobby Attachment

Degumming, Washing & Drying

Bleaching & Drying Loom Setting Dyeing & Drying Bobbin Winding Fitting of Warp with Reed Wheel Winding

Peg Warping

7.4 Tie & Dyeing Stick Warping

Sizing Pirn Winding

Body & Anchal Dyeing

12

The yarn in the warp and/or weft is dyed i n different colours at different places by tying the place tightly by thread, thick leaf or rubber strip where no dyeing is required and then dipping the yarn in dye bath. Thus the untied portion of the yarn gets dyed while the tied portion remains un -dyed. The process may be repeated by tying the dyeing the portions and opening full or part of the tied portion as required and then dyeing the yarn, bringing in another colour on the yarn at places wherever required as per the design.

7.5 Bobbin Winding

After dyeing, the yarn is loosened and wound on a bobbin for preparation of warping, sizing and pirn winding. This is achieved using small bobbin winding machines made out of a simple pulley mechanism where the dyed yarn gets transferred onto a swift and fro m which it is woven onto bobbins using a simple charkha. Pirn winding is the process of transferring the yarns from the hanks into spools of the shuttles used in the weft while weaving. Pirn winding is achieved by using a small swift consisting of a rotary wheel attached to a harness of convey or belt giving a similar rotary motion to the spool mounted at the other end. Rotation of the wheel by hands results in the rotation of the spool and thereby the thread is wound on small spindles. Weaving of Double Ikat dress material

7.6 Sizing

Sizing is a process where starch based chemicals is coated on the warp threads for imparting strength, surface glaze and stiffness so that it can withstand the yarn breakage during the course of weaving and also maintain the stiffness necessary for even weavi ng and a proper look of the sari once the weaving is complete. Sizing is done only for cotton yarn .The process involves painstakingly brushing of the yarns stretched along a stand using the sizing paste and special brushes for this activity. The sizing pa stes are basically a thin paste of rice (Maandi) or a mixture of maida and rice paste.

7.7 Preparation of Loom

Preparation of the loom for weaving is done by the skilled weavers and the process involves the following activities: 13

7.7.1 Drafting
The process of passing the warp yarn through the heald of the loom as per the design to be woven is known as drafting. This helps in the future process of weaving when locating a broken yarn becomes easy due to the heald and also helps in the designing processes.

Dobby used in the cluster

7.7.2 Filling of Reed

In this process, warp is passed through the reed and the heralds. The warp threads are then joined to the old warp threads with a deft twist of hand.

7.7.3 Setting up of Dobby

Prior to start of the weaving process, the weaver sets the design of the border and the pallu. The respective ends of the design are tied to an attachment called Dobby. This process takes around 2 to 3 hours or more depending on the nature of the design. The effects are produced with the help of weft threads.

7.8 Weaving
The weaving is performed by the skilled weavers of the family. The looms being used are mainly traditional pit looms with throw / fly shuttle technique.

Weaving of Single Ikat Sari

8. Value Chain Analysis

alue chain analysis of two different products Single Ikat Sambalpuri Cotton Sari and Cotton x Silk Bafta sari with Phada Kumbha design has been carried out. Analysis of the two value chains (refer figure 1 and 2) throw light on the following facts: Raw material accounts for 28.6% in single Ikat Sambalpuri sari and 47.2% in Cotton / Silk Bafta sari with respect to Cost Price For single Ikat Sambalpuri sari, app 18% of value (with respect to cost price) is added in tying and dying stage Value addition is mainly at the weaving stage (47.2% both in Single Ikat Sambalpuri Sari and 47.1% in Cotton / Silk Bafta Sari) with respect to cost price 14

 Dyeing & Sizing provide nearly 5.5% value to the cost of the sari. Marketing mark ups add up to 10% and 22% respectively on the cost price of sari.

Figure 1: Value Chain of Sngle Ikat Sambalpuri Cotton Sari

120

100

Incremental value added (%)

80

60

40

20

0 Raw material Cost After Dyeing & Sizing After Tying & Dyeing Value addition stages After Weaving= Cost Price MW/ PWCS Margin

Figure 2: Value Chain of Cotton x Silk bafta Sari

120

100

Incremental value added (%)

80

60

40

20

0 Raw material Costs After Dyeing & Sizing After Weaving= Cost Price MW/ PWCS Margin Value addition stages

15

120

Figure 3: Value Chain of Double Ikat Sambalpuri Cotton Sari

100

Incremental value added (%)

80

60

40

20

0 Raw material Cost After Dyeing & Sizing After Tying & Dyeing Value addition stages After Weaving= Cost Price MW/ PWCS Margin

Figure 4: Value Chain of Sambalpuri Cotton Dress Material

120

100

80

Incremental value added (%)

60

40

20

0 Raw material Cost After Dyeing & Sizing After Tying & Dyeing Value addition stages After Weaving= Cost Price MW/ PWCS Margin

16

9. Analysis of Business Operations

he following paragraphs would analyze the clusters business operations with a view to identify issues which need to be sorted out in order to optimise the entire process.

9.1 Raw Material Procurement

Spinning mills have closed down in Orissa since l ong and as such cotton yarn is procured through a variety of intermediaries, both public as well as private, from the mills of Tamil Nadu/ Maharashtra. While the public intermediaries are NHDC 11, Sambalpuri Vastralaya and BOYANIKA, the private intermediaries are a chain of commission agents and traders from the mills to the bleaching and dyeing companies to the bulk traders located within the state and even in Bargarh and Barpalli. This chain of intermediaries results into comparatively higher rates and an i nconsistent supply. Some of these bulk traders located within Bargarh and Barpalli also have in -house dyeing facilities and thus hey tend to sell dyed as well as bleached/ unbleached yarn in the weekly local haat at Balejuri. Dependence for silk yarns is on Karnataka, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh etc. However since the requirement of silk in the cluster is presently low, the procurement procedure for silk yarn does not have any major issues. For supplies of dyes, there are private traders located within Bargarh and even in the small villages of the cluster, who not only supply the dye, but also provide the recipe of dyeing the yarn. These dyes are sold and bought in loose and thus the quality of the dyestuff and its actual price are questionable. Possible use of toxic dyestuffs/ chemicals, banned in the Western countries, may limit the scope for exports from the cluster. The prevailing price of various types of yarns and dyestuffs in the cluster are as under: Comparison of Price list of Yarn Price during February 2006 (Rs. Per Bundle)

Yarn Quality

Price during November 2006 (Rs. Per kg.)

2/120s Grey Mercerised ( combed) Ramlingam Nagmal 2/100s Grey Mercerised (Combed) Ramlingam Nagmal 2/80s Grey Mercerised Kasi Biswanath Nagmal Dyestuffs VAT Brown Other VAT Colour NaphtholFast base

11

2250 - 2300 2100 - 2150 1700 - 1750 1600 - 1650 1200 - 1250 1150 -1200 Rs. / kg. 4000 4200/1500 2000/300 -350/-

1900-1950 1750-1800 1450-1500 1400-1450 950-1000 900-950 marginal change -do-do-

National Handloom Development Corporation, an autonomous institution of Govt. of India for supporting handloom sector across the country.

17

The prices of the yarns have recentl y shot up very high and thus the weavers have been facing a lot of problems in order to cope with the higher procurement prices without any commensurate rise in the sale prices.

9.2 Production Process

The overall production process adopted in the cluster i s no different from the other handloom clusters in general. However, the weavers have customised certain processes and techniques for their specific needs. The sequence of the activities is as follows:

9.2.1 Warping
Peg warping is carried out in the house of weavers in Barpali cluster. The warp is prepared for only 2 4 saris at a time and this necessitates the setting up of loom at short intervals. The present system of putting the warp on the tie & dye frames necessitates that not too many yarns are put on the same at a time since this would adversely affect the tying and dyeing quality since too many yarns would then be required to be tied and dyed and thus the danger of the penetration of the dye in the undesired portions cannot be ruled out. However, this seems to be more of a paradigm related issue rather than a technical one since warping of much greater lengths can be observed in the other clusters within Orissa. Yet again there the motifs are not as fine as in Barpali. Thus there are possibilities to be explored in improvising the tying & dyeing process to maintain its finesse and yet increase productivity.

9.2.2 Sizing
Sizing is carried out in open air in the cluster and the process is weather dependent. Thus, during the rainy season, the sizing activi ty gets hampered and this affects the overall productivity. Due to non-availability of sufficient open space, sizing is carried out by the weavers on rotation basis. But, during the festive occasion this space is again not available as a result weavers face lot of problems. Sizing of the yarns with rice paste and brushes made of coniferous leaves provides a very good finish to the yarn but the process is cumbersome, slow and weather dependent since too much high a temperature or too much high level of humi dity lends a very hard/ soft feel respectively to the yarns and thus the quality of weaving becomes non -uniform for fabric 18

woven in different seasons. Moreover, the use of rice paste slightly alters the shade of the dyed yarn and also poses issues while packing of the fabric for long distances (foul smell etc.). However, for the domestic market, which prefers stiff and highly starched saris, the process is highly appropriate.

9.2.3 Dyeing
Dyeing is done by the weavers after tying the yarns as per the design requirements. VAT Naphthol and Sulphur dyes are used on cotton and acid dyes are used on silk by the weavers in the cluster. The warped yarns tied onto a frame are tied using threads/ rubber strips/ plastic wires etc. and then the dyer rubs each yarn bundle tied onto the frame by using brushes and dips the yarns in the dye bath till the desired shade and dispersion of the dye has not taken place. This process is so tedious and based so much on trial and error that proper matching of shades for large volu mes of fabrics cannot be achieved. Further, a completely foolproof and proper dyeing process cannot be also adopted due to the limitation of the yarns being tied and the care that this tying should not open or else the design may get distorted due to the penetration of the dye in un -desired portions. Thus the dyeing has the problems of colour matching, less than optimum fastness, and the hands of the dyers being subjected to the harmful dyes and chemicals for a long duration. Washing of the yarn after scour ing/ bleaching process is carried out at the canal. This leads to weakening of the yarns since the surface of the yarn becomes rough / dull, especially during rainy season due to the murky water. The harsh way of treating the yarn (beating on a stone and w ith wooden bats etc) also adds to weakening of yarn. Many a times, in order to obtain black shades on the body of the fabrics, the threads are first dyed with green colour using VAT dyes so that the untied portions become green shade and then the tying is opened. This is followed by dyeing of the entire threads with naphthol -base dyes using red colour so that the green portions become black and the white (tied) portions become red shade. As a result, the designs get red colour and body gets black colour. T hus, it can be invariably seen that the black colour in an Ikat fabric is accompanied with red and green and thus typical combination gets repeated without any intentional design or colour need for such a combination. Thus the colour combinations remain ve ry typically traditional and limited in their own way.

9.2.4 Weaving
The weaving is done using traditional pit looms with throw/ fly shuttle technique mostly whereas the use of frame looms is limited due to the lack of sufficient space in the weaver 19

households. The productivity of these pit looms is very low. Further, the pit looms play havoc on the back of the weaver leading to fatigue and thus again low productivity. Even if the pedals of the looms can be changed, a considerable improvement in the ease of t he weaver can be achieved. The use of dobby limits the size of the motifs and also the number of patterns which can be created. The use of jacquard can help the weavers make more varieties of designs on the saris along with the Ikat patterns.

9.2.5 Design & Product range

The design and product range in the cluster is quite limited. Saris and ladies dress material predominate. The limited design and product ranges could be due to the following reasons: The lack of exposure of the weavers to new concepts and ideas and market requirements Lack of any demand for new designs from the traditional marketing channels (Sambalpuri Vastralaya & BOYANIKA), who have largely pushed their products to the Oriya clientele. Limitation of the ikat technique itself - Ikat, being a tie & dye technique, provides mainly sharp contrasts (dark base with the design/ motif emanating from the undyed portion) and thus makes the use of pastel shades, which are nowadays in high demand, difficult and expensive to achieve. In its finest form, an Ikat fabric looks quite similar to a printed fabric and thus the perception of the high amount of skill and intensive labour involved does not get appreciated by the buyer. The buyer usually tends to ascribe low value to the cotton fabric since i t is not considered to be fit for ceremonial occasion in India. Many designers feel that the same amount of Ikat work done on a silk fabric provides better returns than on a cotton fabric. Additionally if more textural effects can be produced on the fabric to give it the real handmade feel, it would increase the consumer perception and is likely to fetch better prices in the market. The weavers aim at so much a perfection in maintaining the sanctity of the design that during weaving they adjust the weft yarn on either side of the width of the fabric. This leads to unwanted small extra yarn wastages at the back side of the fabric. Though a connoisseur of handlooms is able to appreciate this, the dame looks ugly in furnishings, since the width is much larger and the weft yarns become quite heavy.

9.2.6 Credit
The availability of cash credit limit to PWCS from NABARD through Sambalpur District Central Co-operative Bank/ Orissa State Co-operative Bank is very poor. This owes to the fact that most of the cooperative societies have huge amounts outstanding against them in terms of principal as well as interest. As on 31 st March, 2005, three PWCS of the cluster have loan outstanding to the tune of Rs. 1.05 Crores. Since most of the weavers were 20

invariably a part of these cooperative societies, they are individually also not able to reap the benefit from the provision of Credit cards under Swarojgari Credit Card Scheme being provided by the public sector banks. The poor financial condition of the PWCS has lent the entire handloom sector as unviable for investments by most of the banks. It is important to not that the newly created SHGs of women weavers in some of the villages of the cluster have been able to receive some loans from the same banks under the other sche mes such as SGSY etc. The Directorate of Textiles & Handloom, Govt. of Orissa has initiated a revival package of One Time Settlement (OTS) for the PWCS.

9.2.7 Credit analysis of the cluster The total credit requirement of the cluster can be assessed on the basis of the present product range and the looms engaged in the activity and their raw material and wage requirements.
Table 2: Number of looms engaged in different production

Product Range
Dress Material Kurta Salwar Dupattas Saris Silk Cotton -single ikat Cotton double ikat

No. of looms engaged

50 20 30 25 450 300

A. Dress Materials 1. Kurta In 5 days 11 metres of kurta fabric costing to Rs. 973/- is produced in 1 loom. Presuming that the weavers are working 10 months in a year (list of holidays enclosed at Annexure 6), 660 metre of kurta fabric of Rs. 58,380/- are produced in a year on 1 loom. Therefore, 50 looms presumably produce 33,000 metre of kurta fabric worth Rs. 29.19 lakhs. 2. Salwar In 2 days 10 metre of Salwar costing to Rs. 345/- is produced in 1 loom. Thus, 1500 metres of Salwar worth Rs. 51,750/- can be produced in a year in 1 loom. Therefore, 20 looms will produce 30,000 metre of Salwar worth Rs. 10.35 lakhs. 3. Dupattas In 3 days 10 metre of dupattas costing to Rs. 455/- is produced in 1 loom. Thus, 1000 metre of dupattas worth Rs. 45,000/- can be produced in a year in 1 loom.
21

Therefore, 30 looms will produce 30,000 metre of dupattas worth Rs. 13.65 lakhs. Hence, 100 looms producing dress materials, about 93,000 metres of cloth will be produced whose cost price is Rs. 53.19 lakhs. B. Sari 1. Silk Sari In 5 days 1 sari costing to Rs. 1050/- is produced in 1 loom. Thus, 60 saris worth Rs. 63,000/- can be produced in a year in 1 loom. Therefore, 25 looms will produce 1500 pieces of saris worth Rs. 15.75 lakhs in a year. 2. Cotton-single ikat sari In 8 days 2 saris worth Rs. 1345/- is produced in 1 loom. Thus, 70 saris worth Rs. 47,100/- can be produced in a year in 1 loom. Therefore, 450 looms will produce 31,500 pieces of saris worth Rs. 211.95 lakhs in a year. 3. Cotton-double ikat sari In 10 days 2 saris worth Rs. 1600/- is produced in 1 loom. Thus, 60 saris worth Rs. 48,000/- can be produced in a year in 1 loom. Therefore, 300 looms will produce 18,000 pieces of saris worth Rs. 144.00 lakhs in a year Hence, the annual production of about 51,000 pieces of saris in a year would have a cost price of Rs. 371.70 lakhs. Therefore, in the cluster 875 working looms produce 93000 metre of dress material and 51,000 pieces of saris costing to Rs. 4.25 crore. Assuming that within 4 months the stocks are sold, the total credit need is 12.75 crore. The summary of the production is given in the following table. Product Variety No. of looms engaged Kurta 50 Salwar 20 Dopattas 30 Silk sari 25 Cotton450 Total annual Value production 33,000 metre 30,000 metre 30,000 metre 1500 pieces 31,500 pieces Rs. 29.19 lakhs Rs. 10.35 lakhs Rs. 13.65 lakhs Rs. 15.75 lakhs Rs. 211.95 lakhs Credit Annum Need per

Rs. 87.57 lakhs Rs. 31.05 lakhs Rs. 40.95 lakhs Rs. 47.25 lakhs Rs. 635.85 lakhs
22

single ikat sari Cotton 300 double ikat sari TOTAL 9.2.8 Marketing

18,000 pieces

Rs. 144.00 lakhs

Rs. 432.00 lakhs

Rs. 425.00 lakhs

Rs. 1275.00 lakh

The cluster was traditionally dependent on the government channels and the apex cooperative societies such as BOYANIKA and Sambalpuri Vastralaya for the marketing of its products. However, slowly and slowly some master weavers and the awardees were able to develop contacts with the outside markets and thus started supplying in a small way to these customers. Nevertheless, the major share of the sales was within Orissa even by these master weavers. At the same time, the local markets witnessed the entry of cheaper printed ikat-like fabrics and also cheaper ikat hand -woven fabrics from Andhra Pradesh, though definitely of lesser design finesse. This led to a shift in the market preference for cheaper alternatives and thus instead of high value silk based Ikat fabrics, the production and marketing of cotton based Ikat fabrics gained momentum. Presently, the cluster is marketing its products predominantly through the local weekly haat and through small traders/ local shops wherein nearly 80% of the production of the cluster is sold. The remaining 15 to 20% of the stocks are sold by the Master weavers, National Awardees, in various metros like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata etc. and a very small portion of production moves through BOYANIKA/ Sambalpuri Vastralaya. Since credit sale is not allowed to the PWCS by the controlling officers of Directorate of Textiles & Handlooms, the societies are not able to reach out to the other markets which usually demand products on a consignment basis. The improper systems of timely production, quality consistency and lack of any sort of marketing tools has greatly limited the possibility of the institutional buying arrangements from established retail chains/ niche stores etc.

10.

Support Institutions

he following support institutions are relevant and need to be considered for linkages while planning activities for the cluster:

10.1 Textiles & Handloom Department, Government of Orissa

The Department of Textiles & Handlooms of the State government is the key support institution for the cluster and it has been institutional in the growth of the cluster. The department has a local office for the district headed by an Assistant Director of Textiles and also a divisional office for the western division headed by a Joint Director of Textiles at Bargarh. The Weaving Supervisors and the Textile Inspectors of these offices provide 23

regular support to the PWCS to solve their technical as well as other problems. The various developmental schemes of the DC (Handlooms) office are also administered by these offices.

10.2 Krutartha Acharya Centre for Co-operative Management, Bargarh

This is an institute for providing training to the management, employees, and members of the cooperative societies and the staff of the Directorate of Textiles & handlooms and other such organisations on the principles of cooperation, management of cooperatives, their administration, legal procedures, rules & regulations for production, profit sharing, audit and other administrative issues. The institute has been conducting training programmes for the officials of the state government on these issues. The institute is keen on promoting the new Self Help Cooperative Act and has also acted as a resource person for such orientation programmes for the new act. Thus the institute and its faculty can be effectively used for providing guidance to not only the weavers but also the officials of the state government about the new Self Help Cooperative Act. 10.3 Weavers Service Centre, Bhubaneshwar The Weavers Service Centre (WSC), the state representative of the office of DC (Handlooms) Government of India, is based at Bhubaneshwar and has the jurisdiction over the entire state. WSC has carried out a number of training programmes on design, technology in the cluster in the past. The WSC also provides marketing support to handloom weavers through the various marketing events across the country in which the states participation is coordinated by WSC. The WSC also provides registration of the weavers so that they become eligible for the various support schemes of the DC (Handloom) office, especially the marketing activities. Presently it does not have any specific activities planned for the cluster at present but can be certainly approached for support in these areas for the cluster.

10.4 Textiles Committee, Bhubaneshwar

Textiles Committee, an autonomous body of the Ministry of Textiles, has its offices in Bhubaneshwar and a lot of resources especially for quality assurance and other such measures. It has been working on a cluster development programme in other parts of the state and can provide technical support, especially in the areas of productivity, quality systems, testing of dyes and chemicals and also help in providing export linkages through its ongoing programmes with the handloom exporters of the other parts of the country. It i s keen on taking up cluster development activities in the state. Textiles Committee is presently also working on a system for certifying the hand -woven fabrics of the country and if this works out well, then the threat of power looms for most of the handlo om fabrics of the country can be greatly minimised.

24

10.5 Institute of Textile Technology, Choudwar, Cuttack

The state has a Textile Technology Institute at Choudwar, which conducts diploma as well as degree courses for Textile technology and has state of the art facilities for testing, calibration, CAD CAM designing etc. Presently the institutes services are hardly available to the cluster but the probable areas where the institute can be of great value to the cluster actors are: Addressing the issues of productivity in the Ikat tying and dyeing technique Experimentation on various techniques for possibly getting lighter shades in the base of the fabrics in Ikat patterns, etc. Standardisation of dyeing process, preparation of new shade cards etc.

The institute can be used for conducting training programmes for the weavers in the cluster. 10.6 Sambalpur District Central Cooperative Bank, Bargarh This bank has been traditionally providing loans to the various cooperative societies and the SHGs of weavers. However, due to the poor condition of the cooperatives and lack of any sustained common business activities by most of the SHGs, the bank has not shown any keen interest in financing the same. In fact, during the course of interaction the bank has not shown any inclination for continuing any activity with the handloom sector as such.

10.7 State Bank of India, Barpalli

The Barpalli branch of State Bank of India has recently show interest in the cluster by providing loans to the SHGs of the various villages of t he cluster as a part of the various ongoing schemes. This has been at the behest of the intervening institutions such as the Women & Child Development department, local DRDA office etc. hence the bank ca be a key alley in the initiatives for the cluster. H owever, it is the same bank which has no interest in the cooperative societies of the cluster.

10.8 Andhra Bank, Sarandapali

Andhra Bank also has its branch in Barpalli and it has started providing loans to the SHGs of the various villages of the cluster. Thu s this is going to be one of the banks to be linked with the cluster more proactively while planning the interventions.

10.9 Bolangir Anchalik Gramya Bank, Barpalli

This bank has its operations in some of the villages but it has not initiated any major activities for the weavers ad thus it needs to be reoriented and taken into confidence for more activities in the cluster.

10.10 KAS Foundation, Sambalpur

KAS foundation is a Chennai based micro finance organisation which provides micro finance services to the grou ps or individuals by charging a flat interest rate of 10.75% to 25

12.5% per annum. The organisation has door to door service towards finance related issues. However, as on date, its involvement in the cluster is not to be seen.

10.11 Regulated Marketing Committee (RMC), Bargarh

Behera market is run by the Regulated Marketing Committee (RMC) of Bargarh district. The committee comprises of 15 elected members from traders, agriculture department, municipalities, Gram Panchayat and two other nominated members from Govt. of Orissa. The District Subcollector is the Chairman of the committee. The RMC had purchased approximately 5.5 acres of Govt. land in Behera Gram Panchayat near Balijuri bus stand during the year 1990 with an objective to set up a daily market for the traders/ farmers of the district for better market A weaver at the Handloom Haa t, linkages. Subsequently, during the year 2002, after receiving a lot of complaints from the traders/ weavers on security grounds, the weekly handloom market, which used to be organised at Bargarh town on every Friday, was shifted to Behera market by the RMC. The market opens on every Friday for handlooms, beginning at 4 A.M. and continues up to 11 A.M. It is estimated that this hat provides a business turnover of about Rs. 1.5 to 2 crores. It provides a c ommon place for all the stakeholders from the nearby villages and people from as far as other 10 districts of Orissa, other states such as M.P, Chhattisgarh, and Bihar etc. also come to the haat. The haat also has the raw material suppliers, loom parts sup pliers etc. The market is thronged by at least 30 40 wholesale buyers every Friday who come from various parts of the state as well as other states such as Chattisgarh etc. These traders have their own retail outlets in their cities and then also have some linkages with other bulk buyers located in even more distant cities such as Kochi, Vizag etc. However, the major sale even by these traders is in and around Orissa only. These traders procure from about 30 saris to 500 saris at a time and they genera lly prefer 10 15 saris of the same colour and design. The designs as revealed by them have not changed much since 15 years but the same is not felt as a major issue by them since they can still sell these saris. The average margin on a sari is about Rs. 5 6 while the transaction costs are of about Rs. 2 per sari. One of the big traders felt that if the weavers could provide 100 200 pieces at a time at their place itself then they may not like to come to the market since it involves a very high opportunity costs. In fact for the same reason one trader from Chattisgarh comes 26

only once in 3 weeks to buy in bulk and then stock the same for regular consumers. These traders could not find any major issues as far as quality of dyeing or any other such parameters. Interestingly a large number of small traders of Bandhpalli and other villages of the cluster were also found in the market, who were buying the saris from the weavers and stocking them. This indicates that either they have a local market or they in turn supply to the traders of other neighbouring states. The average purchase by these traders is of about 30 100 saris per week. It was estimated that each weaver was sitting with about 20 saris for selling in the haat. Considering that a weaver cannot make more than 2 saris per week, any of the following situations can be possible: The weaver is not able to sell all the saris at every weekly haat and thus brings his old stock along with the newly woven pieces The weaver brings in products of not only h is own loom but of other looms as well. The weaver does not come every week to the haat and comes only when sufficient number of pieces is ready for sales. However, it is important to note here that the weavers were found to be sitting with as little as 5 6 pieces to as many as 250 pieces individually in the haat.

10.12 NGOs
Three registered NGOs are operating in and around Barpalli and have some linkages with the cluster. One of them namely, Bharat Integrated Social Welfare Agency (BISWA) based at Sambalpur had formed one SHG at Barpalli during the year 2003. The NGO financed Rs.20000/- to the group by charging interest @ Rs. 18% per annum. All the financial transactions were made at Sambalpur only. Due to perceived higher interest rate and communication problem, the group withdrew from the NGO and renamed itself as Gangadhar Meher Swayang Sahayak Gosthi. Presently, the group is availing financial assistances through State Bank of India, Barpalli with interest @ Rs. 8.5% per annum only. One local NGO namely, Yuva Jyoti Sangh is also located at Barpalli and is involved in various social activities like awareness campaign on social issues, health and hygiene issues. However, it has not done any work with the weavers of the cluster. Another Sambalpur based NGO Manav Adhikar Seva Sadan (MASS), is working in Bhedan block of Bargarh district with the weavers and has come out with a brochure on the handloom products of Bhedan area. The NGO has done some REDP programmes with the help of NABARD for other handicra ft artisans and can be effectively deployed for similar initiatives in the cluster.

11.

Social Capital

luster development places a lot of emphasis on the effective use of social capital to derive the benefits of the other forms of capitals for the stakeholde rs on a sustainable basis. Thus the level of social capital of cluster is an important dimension to be measured during the course of diagnosis. The social capital of a cluster can be assessed on the basis of the presence of mechanisms of common business or other kinds of cooperation for business 27

amongst the stakeholders. Hence an overview of the cooperative societies, SHGs etc. is being attempted in the following paragraphs.

11.1

Self Help Groups (SHGs)

The cluster has some basic elements of cooperation and th is is evident from the existence of the SHGs in the villages of almost all the Gram Panchayats of the block. There are 24 weaver SHGs present in the cluster out of which 18 are of only women. The details of these SHGs, their present bank linkages and their grading by NABARD are being given at the table no.1. These SHGs have been created by a number of institutions, mainly DRDA and Women & Child Development. Some of the SHGs have been availing loans from the banks for buying raw material but besides this the group approach to any other activities is not visible in the cluster. The capacity of the weavers to invest in their own raw material and produce and sell directly in the market also tells about their entrepreneurial capacity as also their willingness to work on their own.

11.2 Local Clubs

There are 21 local clubs existing in the cluster. The clubs have been mainly floated by the various political parties to woo their voters . Most of them do not have exclusive membership of weavers but some of them are ha ving weavers as predominant members. A list of these local clubs and their present activities is being given at Annexure 7. One of the most prominent clubs is being explained in detail here.

Maa Samaleswari Pathagar, Bandhpalli

One formal club namely, Maa Samaleswari Pathagar, has been formed by the 62 weavers of Bandhpali village. Each weaver has contributed Rs. 1000/ - as membership fees. The objective of this committee is primarily to provide loans to the needy weavers of the village on a monthly rate of interest. Besides, it also procures fabrics from the weavers/ local market at lower rate during the off -season and sells them at higher rate during the peak season. The committee is so strong that the local bank seeks advice of the committee before it finances any weaver. Recently, the committee has constructed a small hall by receiving Rs. 80,000/- from the local MLA funds and collecting Rs. 20,000/ - from its own members. The hall is used for adult education classes and the meetings of the groups etc. during initial discussions in the diagnostic phase the club have shown keenness to upscale its activities.

11.3 Sambalpuri Vastralaya, Bargarh Sambalpuri Vastralaya is one of the largest cooperative societies in Orissa and perhaps even in India. One PWCS of the cluster namely, Ananta Narayan Tie & Dye Co -operative Society having 121 number of members is affiliated to Sambalpuri Vastralaya. Sambalpuri Vastralaya provides raw materials, designs and wages to the society and gives 3% commission after getting the tie and dyed yarns from the society. Besides, it also has two production centres in the cluster where 45 looms are regularly working for producing 28

coarse varieties of products such as napkins, lungis, dhotis etc. It also acts as a master weaver for about 50 weavers of Bandhpalli and Baghbadi villages. It has 60 outlets within and outside the state. It has an established office with the Managing Director being an Assistant Director of the Directorate of Textiles & Handlooms deputed to administer the society. Sambalpuri Vastralaya has been one of the main marketers for the cluster but now it is facing a financial crisis.

11.4 Primary Weavers Co-operative Societies

There are four no. of primary co -operative societies having around 1000 no. of weavers as members. But actually about 50 members are regularly working in the societ ies. In order to meet the working capital requirement for production and marketing activities, the PWCS receive cash credit loan from district co -operative central bank. The PWCS procure raw materials either from National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC) or from the private traders and give it to the members for weaving. Members are paid for their wages and the co-operative sells the products to the Apex WCS i.e. BOYANIKA and /or t o the private traders.

11.4.1 Major Issues of PWCS

11.4.1.1 Marketing Marketing continues to be the biggest problem of weavers co -operative societies in the cluster. Handloom production appears to be not market oriented. Absence of new designs, poor colour combination, lack of understanding of changing markets, inefficient marketing capability, absence of market linkages outside the cluster are some of the prime factors that need to be addressed for the growth of business activities of the PWCS. Besides, Apex WCS i.e. Boyanika which is supposed to provide marketing support to the PWCS is neither providing any backward linkages in terms of providing new designs, colour combination as per market demand nor providing forward linkages through lifting of stocks with regular payment of cloth dues. As a result, the WCS are unable to provide raw materials, wages to its weaver members regularly. For this reason, the weaver members have shifted their linkage to master weavers, traders or are working independently. The WCS feel that they are not able to participate in various Expos, Exhibitions throughout the country due to heavy stall rent charged on them. They also feel that restriction on credit sales is another hurdle in their marketing activities. 11.4.2 Working Capital The PWCS are not able to repay their cash credit loan regularly to Sambalpur District Central Co-operative Bank due to non-receipt of sale proceeds from Apex WCS since long and non-release of funds under Market Development Assistance, Marketing Incentives, Rebate, Expo-rebate scheme etc from Govt. in time. It is worth mentioning that the backlog funds receivable from Apex/Govt. are interest free where as the amount payable to the bank is charged with a rate of interest (11.5% to 16%) by SDCCB It seems that the inter est accrued since 1998 towards cash credit loan is higher than the principal amount. As a result, there is a reduction in quantum of cash credit limit sanctioned by NABARD. 29

11.4.3 Employees Provident Fund (EPF) The PWCs are facing problems from EPF department . Recently, the EPF authority has seized the bank account of Ananta Narayan Tie & Dye WCS. Out of the fear of action to be taken by the EPF department, the secretary of the society seems to be repulsive to discharge his duty properly and smoothly, thus aff ecting the progress of development work of the society. 11.4.4 Restriction on appointment/ enhancement of salary of the paid employees by Govt. The Register, Co-operative Societies (RCS) Orissa vide his circular no. 8059 dated 26 -052000 has imposed ban on fresh appointment/ enhancement of salary of paid employees of the society until further order. As a result, the salary of the staff of the societies since last five years could not be revised. This is cited as one of the reasons for the staff not taking much interest to discharge their duties on day to day affairs of the society. 11.4.5 Revival/ Rejuvenation of PWCS Revival of these PWCS can take place if the following steps are taken: 11.4.5.1 Repayment of old dues by Apex WCS / Govt. The old dues if cleared would provide sufficient working capital to these PWCS and help them reach out to better markets. 11.4.5.2 Conversion of existing PWCS under Self Help Co -operative Act 2001 Existing co-operatives with potential could be helped to convert into the cooperative under the Self Help Co-operatives Act. For conversion to the new Act, it would be best to look only at such co-operatives as could get their audit up to date and as could wipe off losses with releases from the Govt. and Boyanika/Sambalpuri Vastralaya. The option of igno ring existing co-operatives and establishing new co -operatives in the cluster too could be explored. 11.4.5.3 Special One Time Settlement Scheme (OTS) - The Govt. is negotiating with the co-operative banks to waive the interest due since 31 -03-98 to the banks, provided the primary co-operatives pay 10% of dues (principal outstanding and interest accrued till 31 03-98) up front, along with 4 post dated cheques of equal amounts for the balance of amount within a year, But it is learnt that the District Co -operative Central Bank is not willing to accept the proposal as waiving of huge amount of interest would affect its balance sheet. 11.4.5.4 Exploring new market linkages outside Orissa - In order to explore the new market linkages outside the state, market research has to be undertaken with the support and assistance of professional fashion houses like National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), National Institute of Designs (NID), before designing handloom products. Also exposure visit of weavers to markets outside Oris sa would be helpful.

30

Table 1: Details of existing SHGs of Barpalli Cluster

Area Name of SHG Date of Mem form. bers 11.01.03 11.05.02 21.06.03 23.08.05 29.08.05 12.07.05 26.09.03 20 16 19 15 20 15 20 Common Activity Tie & Dye and Weaving Thrift & Credit Stitching Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit and tie & dyeing Tie & Dyeing Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit Tie & Dyeing Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit Thrift & Credit Financing Bank SBI,Barpali SBI, Barpali -do-do-doBAGB,Barpal i SBI, Barpali Subsidy received (Rs.) 50,000 20,000 Loan availed (Rs.) 1,20,000 1,00,000 30,000 1,00,000

1. Barpali NAC

1. Gangadhar Meher (Male) 2. Maa Mangala 3.Maa Baisnabi 4. Maa Tarini 5. Maa Metakani 6. Laxmi Narayan 7. Gangadhar Meher (Woman)

2. Baghbadi 1.Jyoti 2.Binapani 3.Patitapabana 4.Jay Jagannath 5.Bir Bajrang 6.Sairam 7. Maa Durga 8. Maa Chandrahasini

19.04.01 21.10.02 08.12.02 13.09.02 08.04.02 04.10.02 18.03.01 01.02.05

12 10 19 15 13 12 10 15

SBI, Barpali -doSBI, Barpali SBI, Barpali -do-do-do-do-

10,000 10,000 10,000 -

3,00,000 5,86000 4,00,000 50,000 1,20,000 2,50,000 63,000

3. Bandhpali

4. Jalpali

1.Maa Jagadamba 2.Maa Samaleswari 3.Mahalaxmi 4. Jay Maa Bhawani 1. Jagat Janani 2. Jay Jagannath 3. Jay Maa Mahalaxmi 4. Maa Saraswati 5. Jay Shivashakti 6. Jay Maa Bhawani 7. Jay Jagannath Attma

23.05.02 23.05.02 20.12.02 5.7.01

19 20 14 14

Andhra Bank -do-do-do-

25,000 -

3,10,000 25,000 25,000 25000

28.03.04 22.10.01 05.05.05 24.12.04 31.08.01 17.12.04 05.09.99

11 14 16 14 15 15 14

SBI, Barpali Andhra Bank SBI, Bijepur SDCCB, Bijepur Andhra Bank SDCCB, Bijepur Andhra Bank

25,000 25000

11,000 42000/3,00,000/45,000/2,62,500/-

31

Table 2: List of Primary Weavers Co -operative Societies Sr. No. Name of the society Address Date of Formati on Members Enrolled Cloth dues pending with Boyanika / Sambalpuri Vastralaya (Rs. In lakhs) 10.86 4.60 Dues receivable from Govt. Rs. In lakhs 25.17 11.36 Loan outstanding with Bank Present Stocks

1 2

Janata Vastralaya Meher Arts & Crafts Ananta Narayan Tie & Dye Jalpalli PWCS

At/P.O. Barpalli, Dist. Bargarh -do-

12.12.57 2.4.71

203 376

49.20 19.73

10.97 6.36

-do-

3.5.77

121

1.00

0.21

At/P.O. Jalpalli, Dist. Bargarh

31.1.81

295

2.85

10.38

36.05

7.59

32

12. Infrastructure analysis of cluster

The clusters potential is marred by some infrastructural issues. The connectivity of the villages is very poor. The villages lack sufficient spaces for peg warping and brush sizing and may have demand for other such activities such as common dyeing, yarn bank, common design centre and information kiosk etc. However, since presently there is no entity to Poor sanitation in Bandhapalli Village own and manage these types of infrastructure, the cluster is surviving on the rudimentary facilities that it has. It wou ld be perhaps only after some interventions in the cluster that the need for such infrastructure would get articulated.

13.

Cluster Map The current cluster map is placed at annexure 3 of the report. 14. SWOT Analysis

14.1 Strengths
Ikats of Orissa have a lot of repu tation and fame Rich resource of traditional skills in the form of national & state awardees Regular sales at the local market Strong support from the State government departments Good connectivity of Barpalli with Bhubaneshwar and Kolkata by train Presence of substantial number of entrepreneur weavers Availability of credit support to the SHGs from various sources

14.2 Weaknesses
Dyeing quality issues Poor living conditions of the weavers hampering their work All pre-loom processes labour intensive, thus limiting the productivity Poor financial condition of the PWCS Too much dependence on governmental support Lack of market awareness Limited product range Ikats inherent limitations in terms of colours and designs Local market low paying and does not provide impetus to regular product improvement Raw material availability at higher rates lowers the profitability

33

14.3 Opportunities
Increasing demand for cotton fabrics across the globe Persistent support from state government for various activities Possibility of revival of some cooperative societies under the new Self Help Cooperative Act Ikat can neither be copied on power looms nor by printing

14.4 Threats
Low general consumer perception for the skill involved in the ikat process leading to disregard of the product Competition from similar looking printed fabrics Poor financial conditions of the weaving community as well as the government support institutions which owe to the PWCS

15.

Vision for the cluster

The vision for the cluster is proposed as:

Barpali cluster would reach out to niche buyers offering its exquisite Ikats in a varied product range to increase the present margins by 15% and the output by about 10% by the year 2009.

16.

Implementation Strategy

Barpali handloom cluster is unique in the follow ing ways: Firstly it has a large number of entrepreneur weavers who buy raw materials, produce fabric and sell directly. Presence of a strong local market has supported these entrepreneurial initiatives of the weavers. This market too does not seem to be saturated and whatever is produced by the weavers gets sold every Friday, at least during the peak sale season stretching from October to March as per the presently available information from various sources. The other important section of stakeholders o f the cluster is of several National/ State Awardees, some of whom have travelled far and wide, and who keep on innovating new designs. They have some linkages at the national level, albeit not consistent and predominantly based on the fairs & exhibitions provided by government institutions. Not many clusters have such a high number of recognized master crafts persons. Thirdly the weavers and the master weavers of the cluster are not only linked with each other but the master weavers get their fabrics prod uced from weavers out of the cluster also. This implies that the weavers as well as master weavers of the cluster exercise a lot of mutual freedom in their business and further that issues of design secrecy and negotiation of weaving rates are also quite prominent in the cluster. Further, there are a number of Self Help Groups of women weavers (mainly tie & dyers or helpers for pre-loom processes) who have been able to finance the households weaving activities and other needs. Some mens groups have also been availing bank loans for their 34

activities. The village level clubs which run in quite a few numbers play a lobbying as well as welfare activities in the cluster. While the collapse of the cooperatives has led to a substantial population of entrepreneur weavers, there is yet again a population of contractual weavers in the cluster who essentially remain in this state due to lack of funds and risk taking capacity to venture into the entrepreneurial mode. In some cases these are the weavers who get high ly paid by the national awardees due to the intricate design they weave and thus get paid much better than the other weavers. As such the intervention strategy for the cluster would be separately for entrepreneur weavers, contractual weavers, master weavers, national awardees and then this again may be customised and timed as per the need of each of the four villages of the cluster. Entrepreneur Weavers: This set of weavers is mainly operating in the local markets and the broad strategy would be to initially increase their market penetration in the existing local market by helping them avail credit to be able to regularly buy raw material. Further they would be also helped to diversify into new product ranges and alternative markets to cope with the lean seasons of the local markets if it is found that the cost of capital would not justify producing and stocking products during the lean season and that the prices in the peak season fall due to increased supply. For this matter, these weavers would be motivated to form Joint Liability Groups for availing credit and need based networks for the sake of common purchase of raw material and marketing. Master Weavers: Since these persons have tried out in the regional nd local markets an have the comparative capacity to invest for exploring new and better paying markets, they would be helped to take up group based collective marketing efforts and even avail credit in order to increase their production quantum to sufficient volumes for the distant markets. Linkages with various marketing channels would be attempted for these master weaver groups.. Helping the master weavers to make use of the local opportunities of sustainable supply and to fulfil the same through sub contracting relationships with the weav er groups is also going to be one of the ways for consolidation of their businesses. National Awardees: Opening up greater market opportunities and initial creation of demand for Ikats in the niche and may be export markets would be done through the national/ state awardees who do not wish to and cannot operate in the local markets due to their intricate designs and higher level of craftsmanship. They have a reputation and much greater exposure to the needs of the niche buyers. Thus they would be the linked to new niche markets in a sustainable manner through product diversification and introduction of new designs and marketing tools. The awardees have been able to generate some amount of national linkages due to their participation in national fairs & exhibitions and the ensuing orders. However, as these programmes are increasing in their number and as the number of applicants for such subsidized participations is increasing, they are finding the competition in these fairs increasing and thus the falli ng margins as well as sales. Further, due to the lack of sustained efforts on their part, they have not been able to maintain their 35

linkages with the buyers outside the state and their orders have remained very sporadic. There too the competition has incre ased and thus the margins have been diminishing. As such these awardees, who tend to operate with their premium pricing tactics with highly exquisite fabrics, are not able to reap commercial benefits of their skills. Attempts would be made to alter the value propositions of their products through either inexpensive design changes or creation of more value addition perception through new techniques such as use of vegetable dyed Ikats, use of a variety of yarns in the Ikats to create unique kind of ranges. These awardees would be helped to reach out to mainstream bulk buyers and exporters through their joint marketing and value addition efforts. Contractual weavers: The contractual weavers are either into cotton or into silk weaving. The local market is predominantly for cotton fabrics only. Thus the weavers who are into cotton weaving and wish to graduate into entrepreneurial mode, would be helped to access credit, the present limiting factor and then helped with other necessary inputs for their capacity building. However, such a route would be initially not taken for the weavers who are into silk weaving till they are not able to assess the viability of markets and their capacity to operate in those markets. Taster sessions for some of these weavers, who have the willingness to outgrow the local markets, would be provided about the niche markets, through exposure visits and helping for participation in fairs and exhibitions to begin with. Thus the broad strategy to be followed would be to initially consolid ate the position of the cluster in the local and regional markets substantially and at the same time help some of the willing weavers to move on to other markets. Emphasis would be to motivate weavers into group behaviour, thus bringing down their transact ion costs for procurement, selling etc; help them access credit as per their needs to sustain their regular production to their fullest potential and then later be provided other inputs such as design/ product development, management training etc. The poss ibility of bank / micro fianc institution linkages would be explored and then suitable steps would be taken to link the weavers with these credit institutions. As the needs would emerge, the weaver JLGs/ SHGs may be grouped into Self Help Cooperatives so that they have a legal stature and yet the flexibility to organise their businesses the way they want. There are a number of defunct cooperative societies in the cluster but which possess substantial assets in terms of buildings etc. Since these are in t he process of availing One Time Settlement from the state government, they would be on their own after that. At this moment they would be focussed upon to explore the possibility of converting some of these suitable ones into Self Help Cooperatives to or ganise their production better. However the revival of these cooperatives seems a distant dream at present. The presence of local clubs of weavers may provide some opportunities of proliferating their greater role on the clusters dynamics, to begin wit h welfare activities, an extension of some of their present activities and then possibly into business related issues to drive the clusters growth in future. Yet the dynamism of the newly created Self Help Cooperatives 36

might take over this role too. Hence the approach would be weigh the options and then choose the better one. The CDA would be supported by a number of field support staff appointed by a local NGO which would also act as the channel for submission of proposals for support, follow up on registration of self help cooperatives, if need arises, also extend its micro credit support to the weavers and play a key role for the cluster till the same responsibility gets gradually transferred to the weavers own institutions.

17.
17.1

Proposed Action Plan

Short term

Exposure visits: Exposure visits of the stake holders would be made in two phases. In the first phase, some of the members of the SHGs would be taken to the well performing clusters where the CDP of UNIDO has been successfully implemented for enabl ing them to understand the broad concept of CDP. In second phase, some of the selected young entrepreneurs would be taken to some of the important markets outside Orissa to promote marketing activities. In all the visits, the stake holders will contribute at least 10% of the total expenses. Strengthening of SHGs: Presently, although there is an existence of significant no. of SHGs in the cluster, their activities related to production and marketing is very limited. Many of the SHGs are dependent upon the Go vt. subsidies. In the present action plan, the groups would be pushed into common business activities like, procurement of raw materials, production and marketing through a reputed NGO so that they would be self sufficient in long run. Formation of new Self Help Groups (SHG): At least 15 to 20 new SHGs would be also formed and strengthened for doing common business activities like the existing SHGs. Revival of Co-operatives / Self Help Co-operatives (SHC ): Although four cooperatives exist in the cluster, but their function towards providing regular employment to the weavers is limited. Under the existing Act and Rules, the societies are not able to do business activities freely. In this regard, a series of awareness programme will be organised among the members of the society for exploring the possibilities of coming under new Self Help Co-operative Act 2001 under the guidance of Principal, Centre for Co-operative Management, Bargarh. In the first phase, the societies having minimum liabilities would be taken up under new Act. Market Survey: In order to promote marketing activities in the cluster, it is very much essential to have a market survey to know the demand of our products in different markets. This activity would be facilitated through a renowned agency/ NGO within a period of 5 to 6 months. Development of new Market Linkages: Apart from the existing market, different market linkages would be created both inside and outside the state. Initially, importance would be given to develop new markets inside the state and once the stake holders would know about the demand of their products outside the state with regard to quality, 37

delivery time, mode of payments etc. more and more new markets outside the state would be developed. At least 3 to 4 buyer -seller meets can be organised both inside and outside the state. Design Inputs: Design plays a vital role in marketing. One of the main reasons for decreasing popularity of handloom products of Orissa is the absence of new designs. Thus, 10 to 15 young qualified weavers would be given training on CAD/CAM on design development from a reputed institution. Later on, one CAD/CAM centre would be set up in the cluster and this young group would take the lead role in providing design development support to the cluster stake holders. Product Diversification (including vegetable dyed products): At present, the cluster is producing only a limited range of handloom products like sari, salwar suit, lungi, stoles, handkerchiefs using synthetic colours. Attempts would be made to develop new products using vegetable and other colours which have tremendous market demand. More emphasis would be given to develop market led products. Strengthening of the yarn supply for the cluster: Presently, the weavers are procuring raw materials either from the local market or from 2 to 3 local suppliers for which some times the price is unexpectedly become high. There is no system to control the price of the raw materials. Attempts would be made to open a yarn depot under Mill Gate Price Scheme of Govt. of India through National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC), Bhubaneswar. Credit Linkages for the Groups: Although the groups are availing credit from the bank, their activities are not looked into by the bank. As a result, many a times the purpose of availing credit is not utilised properly by the groups. In this context, more and more micro finance institutes / financing institutions would be linked to the cluster. Entrepreneurship development amongst artisans: After forming and strengtheni ng various groups around 25 to 30 young entrepreneurs would be selected and would be provided further training on entrepreneurship so that they can take lead role in overall business development in the cluster. Productivity Improvement: In order to enhance the wage earning of the weavers it is essential to improve the productivity in the existing process. For this, one study on optimum time utilisation in various weaving processes would be carried out through Institute of Textile Technology, Choudwar. One renowned technical consultant would be given the charge of doing this activity.

17.2

Long term

Formation of Federation of SHGs: Once the SHGs are formed and strengthened in large number, one federation among them will be formed. This federation would ta ke care of overall development of the stake holders in long run. Technology up-gradation interventions: Most of the weavers are using traditional pit looms with dobby attachments. Attempts would be made to provide sufficient no. of either frame loom or broad loom with jacquard attachment depending up on the market needs for diversified products.

38

Improvement in dyeing practices: Presently, the weavers are following traditional dyeing techniques for which the colour combinations, fastness to light, washing e tc. of handloom fabrics are not up to the satisfaction of the customers. Attempts would therefore be made to adopt new dyeing technology with latest developed dyes among the weavers. Buyer-Seller meets: In order to promote marketing activities, buyer -seller meets would be organised at different intervals both inside and out side the cluster by inviting reputed designers, exporters, producers from all corners of the country and abroad. Welfare activities with the support of various agencies for the weavers: To initiate this activity, attempts would be made initially to cover weavers under various welfare schemes of Govt. of India like Health Insurance Scheme, Mahatma Gandhi Bunakar Bima Yojana, issue of photo identity card to weavers etc. Depending upon the needs other welfare activities would be taken up in the cluster such as sanitation, medical check up.

39

Annexure 1: India: Financial Year-wise, Variety-wise Production of Cloth (Qty. in Million Sq. Mtrs.) Financial Year . 1995-1996 1996-1997 1997-1998 1998-1999 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2004-2005 (Apr-June) 2005-2006 (Apr-June) Qty. Cotton Cloth Growth % Share Qty. rate 60% 58% 54% 50% 49% 49% 48% 47% 43% 46% 43% 48% 4024 4888 5751 5699 5913 6348 6288 5877 6078 6025 1512 1496 Blended Cloth Growth % Share rate 13% 21% 18% -1% 4% 7% -1% -7% 3% -1% 10% -1% 13% 14% 16% 16% 15% 16% 15% 14% 14% 13% 14% 13% 100% Non Cotton Cloth Qty. 8536 9569 11153 11896 13724 14358 15334 16289 17970 18388 4543 4525 Growth rate 14% 12% 17% 7% 15% 5% 7% 6% 10% 2% 23% 0% % Share 27% 28% 30% 33% 36% 36% 37% 39% 43% 41% 42% 39% . 31460 34298 36896 35543 38626 40333 41390 41462 42109 44991 10708 11668 Total Qty. . 12% 9% 8% -4% 9% 4% 3% 0% 2% 7% 14% 9% Growth rate

18900 12% 19841 5% 19992 1% 17949 -10% 18989 6% 19627 3% 19769 1% 19296 -2% 18062 -6% 20578 14% 4653 5647 8% 21%

Note: Growth Rate is calculated w.r.t. same period last year Data Source: O/o Textile Commissioner, Mumbai

40

India: Financial Year-wise, Sector-wise Production of Cloth (Qty. in Million Sq. Mtrs.) Financial Year . 1995-1996 1996-1997 1997-1998 1998-1999 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2004-2005 (Apr-June) 2005-2006 (Apr-June) Qty. 2019 1957 1948 1785 1714 1670 1546 1496 1433 1493 360 339 Mill Sector Growth rate 13% -3% 0% -8% -4% -3% -7% -3% -4% 4% 2% -6% % Share 6% 6% 5% 5% 4% 4% 4% 4% 3% 3% 3% 3% Handloom Sector Qty. 7202 7457 7604 6792 7353 7472 7585 5989 5581 5705 1276 1504 Growth rate 17% 4% 2% -11% 8% 2% 2% -21% -7% 2% -1% 18% % Share 23% 22% 21% 19% 19% 19% 18% 14% 13% 13% 12% 13% Power loom Sector Qty. 17201 19351 20951 20689 23187 24503 25192 26109 27258 28704 7037 7313 Growth rate 6% 12% 8% -1% 12% 6% 3% 4% 4% 5% 21% 4% % Share 55% 56% 57% 58% 60% 61% 61% 63% 65% 64% 66% 63% Qty. 5038 5533 6393 6276 6373 6688 7068 7868 7837 9089 2035 2511 Hosiery Sector Growth rate 34% 10% 16% -2% 2% 5% 6% 11% 0% 16% 6% 23% % Share 16% 16% 17% 18% 17% 17% 17% 19% 19% 20% 19% 22% . 31460 34298 36896 35543 38626 40333 41390 41462 42109 44991 10708 11668 Total Qty. . 12% 9% 8% -4% 9% 4% 3% 0% 2% 7% 14% 9% Growth rate

Note: Growth Rate is calculated w.r.t. same period last year Data Source: O/o Textile Commissioner, Mumbai

41

Annexure 2:

Export trend of Cotton Handloom Fabrics & Made -ups

Trend in value of export of Cotton Handloom Fabrics Trend in value of export of Cotton Handloom Fabrics

Year

Fabric

Made-Ups

Total

Total

( Rs. in Crores )
Value Of Exports Over 5 years (Value in Rs. Crores) 1998-99 503.58 Value Of Exports Over 5 years Product Name Group 1998 -99 1999-00 2000-01 Fabrics Crores) 1999-00(Value in Rs. 488.48 RMHK @ 16.63 19.00 30.40 Product Name Group 1998 -99 1999-00 2000-01 Lungies 40.06 43.14 46.05 2000-01 489.63 RMHK @ 16.63 19.00 30.40 Dhoties 57.38 78.48 74.88 Lungies 40.06 43.14 46.05 2001-02 496.47 Sarees 16.34 12.02 14.78 Dhoties 57.38 78.48 74.88 Shirting's 43.07 37.97 40.00 2002-03 842.94 Sarees 16.34 12.02 14.78 Furnishings 14.28 18.45 15.18 Shirting's 43.07 37.97 40.00 Other Fabrics 315.83 279.42 268.34 Furnishings 14.28 18.45 15.18 FABRICS TOTAL 503.58 488.48 489.62 Other Fabrics 315.83 279.42 268.34 Fabrics FABRICS TOTAL
@ Real Madras handkerchief

1414.76 1491.57
2001-02 2002-03 17.53 12.14 2001-02 2002-03 46.54 40.23 1637.82 17.53 12.14 123.28 339.58 46.54 40.23 1568.47 9.45 10.94 123.28 339.58 29.09 51.11 1790.33 9.45 10.94 17.51 23.42 29.09 51.11 253.06 365.53 17.51 23.42 496.47 842.94 253.06 365.53 496.47 842.94

1918.34 1980.05 2127.45 2064.94 2633.27

456 447 466 433 544

@ Real Madras handkerchief

503.58

488.48

489.62

31
32 32

42

Trend in value of export of Cotton Handloom Fabrics

Value Of Exports Over 5 years Fabrics Product Name Group RMHK

@

(Value in Rs. Crores) 1998 -99 16.63 40.06 57.38 16.34 43.07 14.28 315.83 503.58 1999-00 19.00 43.14 78.48 12.02 37.97 18.45 279.42 488.48 2000-01 30.40 46.05 74.88 14.78 40.00 15.18 268.34 489.62 2001-02 17.53 46.54 123.28 9.45 29.09 17.51 253.06 496.47 2002-03 12.14 40.23 339.58 10.94 51.11 23.42 365.53 842.94

Lungies Dhoties Sarees Shirting's Furnishings Other Fabrics FABRICS TOTAL

@ Real Madras handkerchief

32

43

Trend in value of export of cotton handloom Made-ups

Value Of Exports Over 5 years Made-Ups Bed linen Table linen Toilet & Kitchen linen Bedcovers/Bedspreads Curtains Other Furnishing Articles Clothing Accessories Other made -ups Carpets & Floor Coverings Made-ups Tot al GRAND TOTAL (Value in Rs. Crores) 3.34 9.91 6.60 200.07 65.43 752.91 24.85 31.88 319.75 1414.76 1918.34 5.57 8.19 8.89 204.11 79.02 764.24 33.36 34.74 353.44 1491.56 1980.04 6.28 30.79 36.79 211.93 104.04 830.10 57.31 62.97 298.31 1637.82 2127.44 20.14 36.49 36.49 211.01 106.39 761.22 53.97 82.12 242.83 1568.47 2064.94 39.51 47.19 43.57 173.67 116.37 940.71 65.61 102.68 261.02 1790.33 2633.27

33

44

Continent wise export of Cotton Handlooms during 2002-03

1998 -99 Continent

1999 - 00

2000 - 01

2001 - 02

2002 - 03

( Rs. in Crores ) Asia Africa Europe America LAC Oceanic Total 315.74 95.42 840.06 567.61 29.51 70.01 1918.34 316.21 98.91 842.32 620.41 30.95 71.25 1980.05 369.46 128.12 831.77 684.28 47.16 66.66 2127.45 340.51 160.87 802.27 660.84 41.32 59.12 2064.94 443.79 164.41 989.05 926.03 36.39 73.59 2633.27

34

45

Product group wise composition of cotton handloom exports basket

2002-03

35

46

Annexure 3:

Current Cluster Map of Barpalli Ikat Weaving Cluster

Local NGO
BOYANIKA Export Promotion Councils
Inst. Of Coop. Management, Bargarh

Textiles Committee

WSC, BBSR

Institute Of Textile Technology, Choudwar

ADT, Bargarh

KAS Foundation

Local Traders (15-20)

Local Shops

(10) S.B.
Local Haat Behera Market

Barpalli Town 250 Looms SHGs 2 MWs 5 PWCS - 3 Tie & Dyer - 70 S. B. - 45 NA-10

Bandhpali 250 Looms SHGs 6 MW 1 Tie & Dyer - 20 Formal Micro-credit Committee

Loom Repairers (3) Designing & Dyeing Service Providers(11)

Jalpalli 200 looms MW- 4 Tie & Dyer - 10

Baghbadi 120 Loms 9 SHGs

Loom Accessories Suppliers (5)

NW

MWs

BAGB

SDCCB

SBI

Andhra Bank

National Market

Yarn, dyes & chemical suppliers Local Traders 5 Traders from Bargarh 5 NHDC Behera Market S. B.

BAGB- BOLANGIR ANCHALIK GRAMYA BANK, SDCCB - SAMBALPUR DISTRICT CENTRAL CO -OPERATIVE BANK, SBI - STATE BANK OF INDIA, SB Annexure 8: BASTRALAYA, WSC - WEAVERS SERVICE CENTRE, ADT - ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF TEXTILE, NHDC - NATIONAL HANDLOOM DEVELOPMENT SAMBALPURI CORPORATION, SHG - SELF HELP GROUP, MW - MASTER WEAVER, PWCS - PRIMARY WEAVERS CO -OPERATIVE SOCIETY

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Annexure 6: List of Holidays in Weavers Community of Barpali Cluster

S. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Event Paush Purnima Dola Purnima & Holi Sabitri Brata Seetal Sasthi Rath Yatra Bahuda Yatra Ganesh Puja Nua Khai Biswakarma Puja Dassera Diwali Ras Purnima Margasira Purnima Weekly Laxmi puja in Margasira Month TOTAL No. of Days 2 2 1 7 1 1 2 2 1 5 2 3 1 4 34 Month January March May March June July August August September October November December December December

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Annexure 8: Table1: DETAILS OF MASTER WEAVERS

Villages Name of the Master Weaver No.of looms Looms working in the cluster 2 3 5 1 2 1 5 7 2 6 4 2 2 42 Type of looms/attachments Own accessories Loom wise Production Variety of production

Jalpali

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

Sriram Meher Ashwini Meher* Gobinda Meher Keshab Meher Biraji Meher Sullabha Meher* Mohilal Meher* Mahendra Meher* Nrupamani Meher* Kirtana Meher Chulamani Meher* Udhaba Meher Kailash Meher Suresh Meher Suman Meher Mahadev Meher Netrananda Meher* Sukru Meher Shasi Meher TOTAL

15 10 5 5 15 25 70 75 130 5 40 10 12 12 8 6 20 10 10 488

Pit/dobby Pit/dobby -do-doplain pit/dobby -do-,plain-35 -do-,plain-20 -do-,plain-65 pit/dobby -doplain pit/dobby -do-,plain-7 pit/dobby -dopit/dobby-5 pit/dobby pit

Dobby-15 Dobby-10 Dobby-3 Dobby-5 Dobby-15 Dobby-25 Dobby-40 Dobby-5 Dobby-20 Dobby-5 Dobby-3 Dobby-7 Dobby-3 Dobby-5 Dobby-5 -

Sari-12, dress-3 Sari-7, dress-3 Sari-5 Sari-5 Sari-5 Sari-20, dress-5 Sari-70 Sari-75 Sari-130 Sari-5 Sari-40 Dress-10 Sari-12 Sari-12 Sari-8 Sari-6 Than-15, Sari-5 Sari-10 Than Sari -10

120s/120s fine cotton sari,120s / 100s,100s / 80s medium cotton sari, 120s /120s, 120s/ 100s, 120s/80s, 100s/80s salwar, 100s/100s, 80s/80s, 60s/32s cotton pant and dopattas are produced

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Barpali

1. Khetramohan Meher 2. Bhagwan Meher 3. Sripati Meher 4. Bhikari Meher 5. Milan Meher 6. Chanchal Meher 7. Sukadev Meher 8. Kailash Meher 9. Iswar Meher 10. Chaluram Meher 11. Dolamani Meher 15. Tarachand Meher 16. Surendra Meher 17. Dayalu Me her

20 10 45 5 10 10 5 5 10 10 5 5 30 30 200 200 5 8 10 10 921

10 4 5 5 5 2 2 4 6 2 5 10 10 70 10 5 8 10 10 155

Pit/Dobby Pit/Dobby Pit/Dobby Pit/Dobby Pit Pit/Dobby Pit/Dobby Pit/Dobby Pit/Dobby Pit/Dobby Pit/Dobby Pit/Dobby Pit/Dobby Pit/Dobby

Dobby-10 Dobby-5 Dobby-3 -

Sari, Dress Sari, Dress Dress Sari, Dress Tassar Than, dress Sari, Dress Sari, Dress Sari, Dress Sari, Dress Sari, Dress Sari, Dress Sari Stoles, Sari, Dress Stoles, Sari, Dress

Wide ranges of tie & dyed saris, stoles, dress materials are produced

Bandhpal i Jalpali

1. Dibya Meher 1. 2. 3. 4. Dharmali Meher Santosh Meher Ram Chandra Meher Radhakanta Meher GRAND TOTAL

Pit/Dobby

Dobby-30

Sari-5, dress-195

Mostly dresses and college uniforms are produced

N.B. * indicates master weavers possessing no looms in their house hold Table 2: List of National / State Awardees Name of the Awardees Padmashree Kunja Bihari Khetramohan Meher Meher Phagun Meher Surendra Meher Sukadev Meher Dayalu Meher Sesadev Meher Smt. Swarnalata Meher Dahita Luha Bhagwan Meher Gobinda Meher

Villages Barpali

Jalpali

50