Women from Singerbond Cachar promote self reliance, their handloom products in huge demand

In Cachar district’s Singerbond area of Lakhipur, women have been leading the most self-reliant life. Starting from handloom sari and towels made by them, various fabrics are being sold not only in the Cachar district but also in the neighbouring states. Especially during the lockdown period, they’ve managed to produce a lot more cloth sitting at home using the handloom method. Around 400 women are weaving cloth day and night in the area, their fabrics are being sold at first in Silchar, Dholai, Kalain and Lakhipur. Besides, some of their clothes are transported to Manipur. Every woman is earning, some even more than their patriarch in the family and are happily running their household.

On Saturday, a three-day exhibition on behalf of the District Handloom department commenced in Silchar. This is the first instance in Cachar district and one of the reasons behind it is that the women have produced a lot of clothes. On behalf of the Handicrafts Department, Hiralal Singh said that, in 2016, the state government gave a special grant for the development of handicrafts industry in an area of ​​6 districts in the state. The Singerbond cluster in the Lakhipur area of ​​Cachar district is the only one from Barak valley to fall under the area. 20 self-help groups have been working in the area for a long time and around 400 women are involved. Their production has undergone various infrastructural improvements and subsequent provision of raw materials for making cloth at affordable prices were provided. Now, these women are earning three to four times more, the pace of their work has increased so much that they are now doing three times as much work as they used to do earlier. In the future, there are plans to make a variety of handloom products using Barak Valley’s own materials.”

A three-day exhibition and started at the Handloom Crafts Office premises at Silchar on Thursday morning. The women of Singerbond joined the event by exhibiting their own beautiful saris and towels. Visitors who attended the event flocked to the shops and very enthusiastic bought clothes.

That day, DDC Jessica Rose Lalsim was the Chief Guest at the event held in Silchar. She said, “As a woman, I am proud that the women of my district have set such an example. Once upon a time, a large number of towels and other clothing used to come from Manipur to the Cachar district, but the women of Singerbond have accomplished just the opposite. Now towels are not coming from Manipur, but beautiful quality clothes including towels are being sent to Manipur from Cachar and are also being sold there. This way, we want to flood the market of Silchar as well as the entire Barak Valley with so much of handloom products, that people would stop buying machine-made clothes. Women can fill society with vibrant colours. It is heartwarming to see so many colourful clothes in today’s event.”

Promila Devi, a woman from Singerbond, said, “Now no woman in our area does any other work. We don’t have time, but there is a lot of work. Everyone is earning and working with great enthusiasm. It is a unique example of women’s freedom. Now we no longer depend on the men of the house, but rather stand by their side and cooperate equally to run the family. Some women are even earning more than the men in their household and that too respectfully. Gradually, we are teaching and inspiring other women to work too. Those who are not getting government aid are also working and earning here. At present, we have about 400 to 500 women involved in this work, I believe in the coming days, thousands of women will find self-reliance in this way.”