Extinction fear looms over Dubbak weavers

​Dubbak: Old women working on traditional spinning wheels and men on semi-mechanised weaving contraptions are still prevalent in parts of Telangana. They have spent a major part of their lives being part of the handloom weaving industry in some way or the other.

Today, the last generation of skilled handloom weavers is struggling hard to survive. What awaits them is uncertain. Very few years are left before this generation of skilled artisans vanishes with the changing times.

The Handloom Weavers’ Cooperative Society in Dubbak is a classic example of how societies have been struggling to exist. The society in Dubbak was established in 1949 as a result of cooperative movement led by leaders like Konda Laxman Bapuji.

Until the 80s, over 5,000 weavers used to work in this society. Today, only 60 men and 17 women are left. The women hardly make Rs 5,000 a month and men make anything between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,000 (highest being Rs 10,000). They put in nine hours for a shift.

“Look at us. We are living in extremely poor conditions, but are still working to protect our jobs and the weaving profession.

Most of us are getting widow pensions, but we do need additional financial support for continuing in this profession as a matter of respect for the artistic nature of our work," claimed sixty-year-old Gavvala Sujatha, who has been working with the society for the past 15 years.

There was a time when sarees like ‘Gollabhama cheerelu’, ‘Chitki cheerelu’ and also Pochampally designs used to be made here. With waft tie-and-die technique, mercerised cotton sarees used to be made.

Sarees used to be sold as far as Kolkata and Odisha. But now, those States got their own technology and started manufacturing the designs on their own. Demand plummeted and manufacturing came to a halt. Three months stock worth Rs 15 lakh is now lying in the store room, with even APCO not buying their stock.

Boda Srinivas, chairman of the society, agreed that mismanagement of funds and wrong decisions in the past affected the reputation of the manufacturing unit. But he strongly felt that more investment could revive the lost glory for Dubbak weavers.

“There are at least 250 weavers in Dubbak mandal ready to join us, but we do not have funds. We need at least 50 more handlooms, workshops and training sessions, including cross-training for our weavers if we want to compete with others,” Srinivas told The Hans India. “We need working capital and a marketing team to help us expand our reach to private sector. We can produce export-quality linen if we have that kind of investment,” he said.

As part of the National Handloom Development Project (NHDP) initiated by the NDA government two years ago, Dubbak and Kamalapur were selected for central government aid. While Kamalapur got Rs 1.8 crore, the proposals for Dubbak were never sent for approval. After the formation of Telangana, at least in Medak district, no cooperative society has been able to get a loan.

The Hans India spoke to Dubbak MLA S Ramalinga Reddy about the worsening situation in these societies. Reddy felt that the societies were not able to meet the survival needs of the weavers, as the workers were getting lesser wages than MGNREGS workers.

“People are not happy with what we are delivering, due to which the demand has come down. Training and cross-training have not yielded results in the past,” he said. The legislator said that the State Government was considering a way to integrate handloom weaving work with MGNREGS, so that at least the workers could get fair pay. This is the last opportunity to come to the rescue of the Dubbak weavers.

By:Vivek Bhoomi