By Ibu Sanjeeb Garg
Beating the Rhetoric
India is known for its rich heritage of arts and crafts. North East India particularly deserves special mention for having a history of art and craft that goes back to thousands of years. Among many such illustrious crafts that have sustained for millenniums, one must mention the silk industry of Assam. Assam is the only place in the world which produces three type of silk – golden Muga, white Pat and warm Eri silk. The centre of this silk industry is in Sualkuchi. Sualkuchi is a small town which is almost 40 kilometres away from Guwahati. Nestled between the Brahmaputra on one side and Guwahati on the other, Sualkuchi is one of the adjoining towns of Guwahati city. It is also home to the traditional silk industry which has survived in Assam for almost 10 centuries now. Along with the brass metal industry, traditional silk industry is one of the two bedrock industries of Assam. Not only money, the industry also brings a lot of recognition for Assam. Looking into all these aspects, the government decided to establish a Fashion Institute Technology in Sualkuchi region, a few years ago.
Yet for the past few years now, this source of pride is in the news for all the wrong reasons. The glory that this sleepy town earned for Assam and for India throughout the years, is now slipping away. It is slowly turning into a story of despair. It is important to understand the problems that these industries face and how we can solve them. Such solutions might not act for Sualkuchi alone , but can also provide a template to all those regions whose traditional industries face one challenge or the other.
First and foremost, we must be able to understand the basic problems that plague this craft. The non existence of a price control regime is the one of the foremost problems that plagues this industry today. There is no price control board which regulates the price of these commodities. For example, the price of a piece of cloth is the same as it was five years ago with very minor increase. In this era of inflated economy, we can all comprehend how this non-increase in the basic prices of the commodity will hit the producers. Major fallout of this non-increase in price is degradation in the quality of cloth. To make up for the losses caused by stagnant prices, a large number of producers are resorting to mixing other elements in the cloth. The price of the commodity depends on a few large traders who virtually have iron grip on the market. They fluctuate the prices according to their own needs so that the market prices move when they desire to do so. This hegemony deters the very growth of the industry and also acts against letting any new traders enter this trade.
A few years ago large number of protests were held against the large traders. The smaller weavers had lamented that these traders passed off cheaper Banarasi silk and other material as traditional Assamese silk. The smaller weavers were expecting a boom in sales since Rongali Bihu is round the corner (that particular time when a large amount of cloth is sold) and to their despair, they found cheaper cloth was being sold in the name of Sualkuchi silk.
This system of hegemony of trade, in the hands of a few has other major fallouts. Once the production is made, the small traders flock to the few big traders of the commercial area of Guwahati to sell their produce. Here the smaller traders from the town are at a disadvantage. These people do not have direct access to the market. Hence they are forced to sell their products at the hands of a few who control the larger market. These bigger players do not pay the smaller traders full payment and let the balance accumulate over years. Since market access and customers is the final goal of any economic enterprise, the smaller traders from town are forced to rely on a few large merchants, a system which ensures their systematic exploitation.
The solutions to these problems are not difficult to comprehend, however. The first solution is, of course, the government setting up a price regulation mechanism so that the small traders are not exploited and they get fair price. This can be done by setting up a Silk Auction Board on the lines of the Tea Auction Board. With a proper administrative mechanism, this board can regulate the activities of the traders in Assam and all produce being sold through them. This will make Assam silk a large global brand like the tea industry and will also transform it into a modern industry ensuing competition at the global level. Government can take steps to regularise the payment of the weavers or the traditional “sipinis” so that they get paid more than what the NREGA pays. This will make weaving a lucrative option once more, and will stop the trend of decreasing weavers in the industry. Proper financial auditing must be a strict regulation for all the traders so that they have a sound economic growth. Banks and other financial institutions must come forward to give loans to the small traders. Till now, most of them are dependent on private financiers who charge very high interest rates. Banks’ interest in this sector will also encourage many youths to take up this business.
Secondly, we must understand the pattern of the silk trade. A major part of the silk produce is exported to Japan where it is used to make kimonos — a kind of specialised clothing in Japan. The traders in Assam can organise a workshop by visiting Japan under the aegis of the Assam government. They can learn how to manufacture kimonos. After getting back, the weavers can sell the finished product of kimonos, instead of raw silk. This will ensure not only added revenue but will make the silk traders of Assam global competitors in the true sense.
To curb the meance of inferior quality silk entering the market in the name of Pat and Muga, the government must establish some taxation norms on the entry of such products in the state. Apart from that, the local people must be vigilant about any unscrupulous practices like hoarding of silk of inferior quality etc. The small traders also should be given an institutional mechanism where they can air their grievances and also find a platform for solutions. Declaring Sualkuchi as a cluster industry under the MSME (Micro Small and Medium Industries) and giving them benefits under it will also auger well for this industry.
In the end, everyone has a stake in the betterment of the silk industry. It is after all one of the oldest industries of not only Assam, but also the country. Hence what it needs is not armed action and curfew, but genuine attempts at understanding the grievances of the people and efforts towards solving them.
– Ibu Sanjeeb Garg ( Views expressed by the author are personal in nature)