Handloom Fabrics output up in Rangamati

Rangamati is a district in South-eastern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the town of Rangamati serves as the headquarters of the district.

For unemployed and needy women, Rangamati Hill District is a best employment place. Here handloom industry has employment opportunities for them, particularly for the indigenous womenfolk. Handloom products of this district are mainly - khadi (an indigenous material), shalwar-kameez, panjabi, frocks, shawls, fatua, shirts, bedcovers, floor mats, dining table mats and cushion covers.

There are nine handloom textile factories in the district. These are: Bain Textile, Nakshi Textile, Banalata Textile, Banani Textile, Tantuj Textile, Craft & Fashion Textile, Bayan Textile, Majumder Textile and Rakhain Textile.

These nine factories provide employment to around 2000 underprivileged female workers. Their work is to weave, dye the clothes and process yarn. They can earn Tk 1200 to Tk 3000 per month depends upon their experience and expertise. Amount grows as their experience grows.

Rangamati's handloom products are gradually gaining popularity both at domestic and international market, but the owners of the handloom factories are not satisfied with the sales. As per them sales is not up to mark due to a wane in the number of tourists. Adding to their sadness, are the skyrocketing prices of yarn, dying and other weaving materials. Prices have unexpectedly gone up by 50 percent, the owners said.

Bain Textile was established in 1965 at the Tribal Officer Colony in Tabalchhari area of the town. Manjulika Chakma is the owner of the Bain textile. She had started her business with a capital Tk 500. Presently she is considered a pioneer in the handloom fabrics trade. Manjulika Chakma also won a Bangladesh Business Awards in 2003 for her outstanding performance in popularizing home-grown Rangamati Handloom fabrics.

Fibre2fashion had talked with Mr. Kaushik Chakma son of Manjulika Chakma regarding Rangamati Handloom fabric. As per him "Demand of Rangamati handloom fabric is very high among tourists. At present 50 workers are working with Bain textiles and they can earn approximately 2000 - 3000 Tk as per their work experience."

The handloom products are gaining popularity among the tourists from home and abroad in the hill district of Rangamati. Besides, the handloom industry in Rangamati has long been playing a pivotal role in creating jobs for the ultra-poor women and the indigenous people.

But the owners of the traditional factories are struggling with the rising prices of raw materials like yarn, dying as well as other weaving materials, owners said. They sought government's cooperation to develop further the industry as well as to get the country's economy going.

According to sources at least 2000 ultra-poor women have taken weaving at different handloom factories as profession to earn their bread and butter along with the males in their families. They are engaged in wide range of work, including weaving, dying of cloths and processing yarn. "

I have been working here for the last three years. When I was an apprentice I used to get Tk 1,200.00. But today, I'm receiving Tk 2,000, said Lalita Chakma, a young female worker at Bain Textile.  Lalita's senior colleague Mariam Bagum said her salary has been fixed at Tk 2,500 from Tk 700 when she started her career about 12 years ago. Mariam, a divorcee, said she is quite happy with her job and environment.

There are nine handloom textiles in Rangamati, including Bain Textile, Nakshi Textile, Banalata Textile, Banani Textile, Tantuz Textile, Craft and Fashion Textile, Bayan Textile, Majunder Textile and Rakhain Textil

e. Of the handloom items produced in these factories, pinon-khadi (dress for indigenous women), three-pieces, punjabi, frock, orna, fatoa, shirt, bed cover, floor mat, dining mat and cushion cover are very popular to the tourists. Bain Textile is the pioneer in the industry established by Munjulika Chakma in 1965 at tribal officer colony at Tabalchhari. Following her footstep, many others get encouraged and came up with a number of such factories. "

We often send large quantity of handloom items of good quality to different aristocratic fashion houses in the capital city Dhaka in accordance with their demands," said Manjulika Chakma. Despite the popularity and demand, the owners feared to lose their edge in future due to price hike of weaving materials.

They said for the sake of expansion of the handloom industry, government must play a role by giving subsidy and interest-free short and long term loans. Motaleb Hossain, one of the owners of Banani Textile, said they are to purchase weaving materials from Dhaka that increase the production cost of handloom items. "

There was a shop of BTMC (Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation) in Rangmati in the past from where we were able to buy weaving materials easily but we can't do now since the shop doesn't exist," he said. Monjulika, who received The Daily Star Business Award in 2003, said the government should provide subsidy for the handloom sector for expansion and sustainability of the industry.