CST 307 : Arts , Community and the Future Midterm : Engaged Research Name: Nafim Karim Khan ID: 21221039 Section: 01 Course Instructor : SM Mahfuzur Rahman Introduction “When we are observing the rebirth of muslin, at the same time, we are seeing the decline of Benarasi sarees. It’s high time to save the tradition of Benarasi sarees, otherwise, the traditional cloth can be lost from our industry like Dhakai Muslin saree” (Roni, 2023). The Benarasi saree originated in the 16th century in Banaras, India during the Mughal rule. They were produced by Muslim migrants in Mohammadpur and Mirpur, Dhaka in the 1950s. This art form was passed down from generation to generation and was revived after the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 when artisans from Banaras came to Mirpur, Dhaka to produce Benarasi Sarees. As the industry grew, the area was known as Mirpur Benarasi Palli. Despite having a rich past, the present situation of Benarasi sarees is dreadful. Presently there are less than 50 factories, a sharp decline from around 300-250 factories along with weavers pursuing alternative careers such as rickshaw pulling to support themselves (Roni, 2023). A shop owner expressed, “The economic condition of the weavers is very bad, so who will make this saree if they can’t afford food for themselves?” (Roni, 2023). The aim of this paper is to focus on improving the current state of Benarasi sarees and the weavers involved in its production. It will unfold the challenges faced by the weavers who are situated in the Mirpur Benarasi Palli located in Mirpur 10 of Dhaka and propose an effective step by step solution to address and mitigate the problems such as lack of variation in design, decreasing demand of Benarasi sarees, low wages of the weavers and marketing of Benarasi sarees. The solutions will be implemented by working alongside the weavers to ensure that the problems are resolved and they get the respect and compensation they deserve and to preserve the art of Benarasi from fading away with the times. Literature Review To understand the problems faced by the weavers of the Mirpur Benarasi Palli, this paper will go through journals and studies which examine the state of weavers in the handloom industry to analyze the problems and solutions. The objective of this review is to present a structured stepby-step solution that if applied can solve some of the major problems faced by the weavers. The target community is two or three weavers of the Mirpur Benarasi Palli situated in Mirpur, 10. During research, some problems are hypothesized such as lack of variations in design, decreasing demand, low wages, and marketing of Benarasi sarees. Journals and research studies will be investigated similar to these problems and analyze the solutions recommended and adapt them into a detailed step by step solution to aid in the weavers production of the Benarasi sarees. Democracywatch, an NGO who works with different communities in Bangladesh, conducted a study in 2008 with the weavers in the Mirpur Benarasi Palli in Mirpur 10 which showcased a multitude of problems faced by the weavers among the standout ones being inadequate wages, exploitation by the middlemen, lack of training, and lack of variation in design. Primarily, low wages were identified to be the most significant problem faced by the weavers and this was due to the insufficient financial support from the government and the exploitation of the middle-men. Furthermore, it was also found that the designers involved in the production lacked technical training and thus were not updated to the changing taste of the customers. The study proposes ways to help the workers. Some solutions, to name a few, require assistance from the government such as providing subsidies to help the Benarasi industry, providing low interest rate loans and exporting Benarasi products to increase demand. Others include designers receiving technical training and sales training, connecting with suppliers and marketers, and promoting Benarasi sarees through events and magazines. A similar study by Roy and Dey (2018) on the Murshidabad silk industry in West Bengal observed that the age of the household head, underpaid female workers, morbidity of women, and cost of production are among the factors that inversely affected the annual income of the households. Firstly, younger household heads had higher income suggesting enthusiasm and energy outweighed the experience of the elders. Secondly, male workers received higher pay than their female counterparts who settled for working at below subsistence wage (Roy & Dey, 2018). Furthermore, female family illness and higher cost of production reduced the annual income. Policy suggestions were made by Roy and Dey (2018) to improve the incomes and tackle the declining number of silk artisans in West Bengal. Some broader solutions were recommended by them which include, improving women’s health through subsidized insurance and lowering the cost of production through subsidies. Others include forming Self Help Groups to encourage credit autonomy. They believe that these proposals, if adopted, could help sustain the declining silk industry. According to Chaudhary et al. (2021), a study investigating the socio-economic condition of small-scale producers in Varanasi found the worsening condition of weavers was due to unfair competition with the power looms, exploitation by intermediaries, unorganized structure, and the weaver’s inability to keep up with the evolving fashion industry. To start with, power-looms produce products cheaper and faster compared to the weaver’s handlooms in conjunction with the middlemen reaping most of the profits while paying minimum daily wages to the weavers which is further exacerbated by the unorganized structure of the business as daily records are not maintained properly and most of the decisions are based on trust. To add to this, payments are often delayed for years, sometimes not paid thus slowing down production. Lastly, since it takes plenty of days to complete a saree, weavers cannot stay updated on the changing trends demanded by the fashion industry. The researchers recommended some possible solutions which include weavers working together instead of working individually, strengthening the market dominance of the product through establishing connections with various stakeholders, producers being trained professionally to carry out sales activity which will abolish the exploitative middle-men and expanding the catalog to not just sarees but other products to cater towards the younger generation. A study by Harpanahalli et al. (2023) examined the marketing and sustainability issues in the handloom industry in India and observed that young youth are not drawn to weaving, weaver’s inability to market their products, and weaver’s lack of customer information. To start with, young youths are shying away from weaving due to inadequate wages. In addition, weavers rely on the apex society for marketing instead of marketing their products to avoid the associated risks. Lastly, individual weavers are not up to date with the customer preferences and thus cannot update their designs accordingly. Some recommended solutions were provided in the research. Most of the solutions provided involve assistance from the government such as involving training organizations to recruit young interested weavers to weave high-value products and the governments organizing and providing marketing assistance and providing training on new designs. Others include individual weavers relying on the master weavers although a master weaver is not fair in providing work and wage fixing, it is a better alternative to resolve the marketing issue of individual workers. After reviewing multiple researches on weaving communities, it was observed that the issues are mostly similar in each place along with a variety of distinct suggested solutions. The suggestions by Democracywatch (2008) and Chaudhary et al. (2021) regarding product diversification, marketing, and training seem applicable to the weavers of Mirpur Benarasi Palli. In particular, Democracywatch (2008) suggestions for designers receiving technical training and promotion through events and magazines as well as Chaudhary et.al (2021) suggestions of weaves receiving sales training and broadening their catalog items beyond just sarees to cater towards younger customers and adapt to the evolving fashion industry can be adapted to the weavers of the Palli. On the other hand, recommendations made by Roy & Dey (2018) and Harpanahalli et.al (2023), are less likely to produce lasting impacts even though they are valid in principle because they are too broad given the constraints1 of the project which does not play well with government assistance. In summary, integrating the solutions from Democracywatch (2008) and Chaudhary et al. (2021) into one seamless step-by-step action plan to increase the demand for Benarasi and improve the sales and incomes of the weavers is the way forward. Instead of hiring professionals to provide technical and sales training to the weavers, students doing their undergrad in fashion major can be approached and hired. The goal is to build a team of two or three students who will update the weavers on the current industry fashion trends, provide them with new designs and expand the catalog to other popular products like tote bags, salwar kameez, panjabi, purses etc to cater towards the younger demographic. These students can also teach them how to use social 1 A budget of 200,000 BDT with a time span of 6 months media for marketing purposes and upload the work involved in the production process as blogs to establish a connection between customers. These specific actions will be discussed further in details in subsequent sections. References ● Chaudhary, M.,Agarwal, B.,Bhatia, M. (2021). Socio-Economic condition of Small-Scale producers in Varanasi: A case of Banaras brocade and Saree.. Journal of Intellectual Property Rights, 26(5). http://nopr.niscpr.res.in/handle/123456789/58959 This paper focuses on the socio-economic condition of small-scale producers in the Banaras Brocade and Saree industry in Varanasi. It aims to locate the challenges faced by the weavers in Varanasi and suggest solutions for improving the marketing and distribution system of the industry. The paper found that the condition of smallscale producers in Varanasi has worsened over the years. It found that the problems faced by the weavers are the following: unorganized business structure, the inability of the weavers to keep up with the fashion industry, unfair competition with the power looms, and exploitation by the intermediaries which are among the main reasons. Some solutions were proposed which include maintaining proper records and reducing trust-based decision-making, weavers working together, weavers being professionally trained to carry out sales activity, and expanding the catalog to other products and not just sarees. This paper found problems that aligned with the problems discussed in the hypothesis before conducting the literature review and some solutions that were chosen to adapt for the project. The chosen solutions were expanding the catalog of products to not just sarees to cater to the younger generation and training the weavers to carry out sales activity to abolish the middlemen reaping most of the profits. ● Democracywatch. (2014). The Socio-Economic Conditions of The Benarasi Workers in Benarasi Palli: Present Scenario and Future Prospect. http://www.dwatchbd.org/ggtp/Research%20Reports/Benarasi%20Workers.pdf The study focuses on the socio-economic conditions of the Benarasi Workers in Benarasi Palli to understand its present scenario and prospects. The study was conducted in the Mirpur Benarasi Palli located in Mirpur 10,11 and 12. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to conduct the study along with focus group discussions (FGDs) and seven case studies were conducted. The study found various problems of the work such as low wages, unhealthy working environments, exploitation of the middle-men who keep the lion's share of the profit, lack of variation in design, and increasing prices of the raw materials to name a few. It also recommends some solutions that are on the broad side requiring assistance from the government such as providing subsidies, low-interest loans, and exporting Benarasi products to international markets. Others include marketing of Benarasi saree through events and providing sales and technical training to the weavers to tackle the exploitative middlemen and low wages issue. This paper helped verify the hypothesized problems before the literature review and provide solutions that can be adapted to the project. The solutions that promote weavers' autonomy by giving them sales and technical training along with marketing seem applicable to the project. ● Harpanahalli, V., Meesala, A., Reddy, S. D.(2021). The Handloom Industry: A Study on Credit, Marketing and Sustainability Issues of Handloom Industry in and outside Cooperative Sectors.. National Bank For Agriculture and Rural Development. https://www.nabard.org/auth/writereaddata/tender/2108230306nrs-39-190823.pdf The paper focuses on the challenges faced by the handloom industry in India and its need for government support. It focuses on understanding the problems faced by the handloom cooperatives and how the cooperative mode helps independent weavers get access to marketing, financial, and social infrastructure. Since this is a detailed study, this paper finds multiple problems such as youth not being drawn to weaving, weavers’ inability to market their products, and weavers' lack of customer information to name a few. These problems aligned with some of the problems hypothesized before the literature review. The paper proposes solutions such as training organizations recruiting young interested weavers to weave high-value products and government organizations and providing market assistance and training on new designs. These solutions are not chosen because they are too broad to apply to the project given the constraint. An alternative solution was also recommended that did not require help from the government which was for independent weavers to rely on the master weavers. This is not a feasible solution as master weavers according to the research are known to be unfair in providing work and wage fixing but it was still recommended as a risk-free approach to resolve the marketing problem of the independent weavers. This solution is not chosen either because the goal of the project is to help the weavers in the long run. ● Roni, A. (2023b, June 13). The resurgence of muslin and the decline of Banarasi sarees. Textile News, Apparel News, RMG News, Fashion Trends. https://www.textiletoday.com.bd/the-resurgence-of-muslin-and-the-decline-ofbanarasi-sarees This article talks about the Benarasi saree industry in Bangladesh which is facing a major decline. It starts with discussing the history of Benarasi and how it has seen a sharp decline. Workers and Shop owners were interviewed and present issues and potential solutions were identified and proposed. This article was used to understand the history of Benarasi sarees and its present situation of the weavers in the Benarasi Palli. ● Roy, C., & Dey, A. (2018). Murshidabad Silk Industry in West Bengal: A Study of Its Glorious Past & Present Crisis. Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3357589 This paper focuses on the Murshidabad Silk Industry in West Bengal which has a rich history of silk production since the seventeenth century. The negative and positive factors which affect the income of the silk-producing households are highlighted in the paper. The factors that positively affect income include; language efficiency, number of family members, male labor, and ownership of televisions, bicycles, etc. The factors that negatively affect the income include; the age of the household head, female worlds, cost of production, morbidity of females, and the expenditure autonomy of the females in the family. The paper suggests the government take proactive measures such as subsidizing the cost of production, improving health insurance schemes, and increasing language efficiency as well as improving sanitation facilities and providing communication goods to the silk producers. This paper proposed different problems compared to the hypothesis before conducting the literature review which helped in understanding more factors that negatively affect the weavers. No solutions were adapted from this paper as most of them include government assistance which is not possible given the constraints of the project.
