Kendrapada: Handloom weavers in Kendrapada and Jajpur districts have reported low sales and financial distress ahead of the puja season, blaming alleged exploitation by middlemen and cooperative societies, non-purchase by Boyanika and lack of support from the state handloom department.Dhaneswar Sahoo (72) of Baburampatana village in Kendrapada’s Derabish block, a weaver for 50 years and his family’s sole breadwinner, said societies provided yarn, dye and other materials worth Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 for each sari. A weaver spends two days making a sari but receives only Rs 650, he said. According to Sahoo, societies sell the sarees to middlemen for Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 each, while middlemen sell them in markets for Rs 3,500 to Rs 5,000.Another weaver, Narayan Das (64), said sales had dipped because of exploitation by middlemen and societies and the failure of govt agencies such as Boyanika to buy their products. Customers were also showing less interest compared to previous years, he said.Weaver Puspalata Sahoo alleged that although govt had encouraged the formation of cooperative societies to procure cheaper raw materials and market handloom products, most were inactive and some were controlled by middlemen and traders.Srikanta Nayak, president of Maa Mangala weavers’ society in Korua under Garadpur block, said Boyanika had declined to buy saris this year, putting the livelihoods of around 1,600 weavers in Kusueapala, Baburampatana, Kaudiabaria, Korua, Kalaboda, Pikirali and Chandol at risk.In Jajpur district, around 2,000 tussar silk sari weavers in Gopalpur under Rasulpur block were facing economic distress and unemployment because Boyanika had not purchased their products, Odisha Weavers’ Association president Sridhar Behera alleged. Weaver Gopal Das said orders had fallen sharply during the Durga Puja season.Boyanika chief marketing manager Artaranjan Mohapatra said the agency sold handloom products worth Rs 233 crore in 2025-26 after purchasing from around 45,000 weavers across the state. It had already purchased products worth Rs 100 crore this year and bought only good-quality products from weavers’ societies, he said.
