Sambalpur: Sambalpuri handicrafts and handlooms will get a new life
Sambalpur: On February 1st, when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the general budget in Parliament wearing a Sambalpuri saree, the discussion about this traditional handicraft of West Odisha reached a different level. With the growing interest in Sambalpur clothing, Sambalpur handicrafts are expected to get a new lease of life in the coming days. It is seen that many individuals and institutions have an integral role in it. Sambalpuri clothes are expected to get a new lease of life and a big reason for that is the people of Western Odisha. Every common man of the region has now become the brand ambassador of Sambalpuri clothing. Sambalpuri handicrafts are able to attract outsiders as administrators, intellectuals, leaders and celebrities pair up with common people.
In the next 5 years, IIM aims to bring Sambalpuri clothes to the world market. The institute has tied up with major e-commerce companies of the country like Flipkart and Amazon to manufacture their own Sambalpuri garments and apparel. IIM Sambalpur Director Prof. Mahadev Prasad Jaiswal said, earlier Sambalwari cloth did not get that much promotion. Now the series begins. Now everyone is interested in it. Marketing is easy in today’s digital age. Not only in clothes, but slowly in other decorative items, Sambalpuri designs have started to be applied. Whether it’s a wall art or a mobile cover, there are many gift items with this design. This will act as a catalyst to increase the popularity of Sambalpuri designs, he said.
Efforts are being made for this not only on special days or festivals, but also at the administrative level. The District Magistrates of various districts not only wear Sambaluri themselves, but also issued government directives to wear it on certain days. Subarnapur District Collector Aboli Sunil Narwane is in the forefront. For the promotion of Sambalpuri clothes and the improvement of handicrafts, he directed that the government employees of the district should wear Sambalpuri clothes in the complaints room held every Monday. Later, Bargarh District Magistrate Monisha Banerjee and Sambalpur District Magistrate Ananya Das ordered all government employees to wear Sambalpuri clothes on Sambalpuri Day. A day after the celebration of ‘Sambalpuri Day’, Jharsuguda District Magistrate Saroj Samal has issued an order asking the government employees to wear Sambalpuri clothes to come to the office on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month. It has been seen that most of the employees have accepted such instructions from the district officials very positively and are wearing them with enthusiasm.
However, various universities, higher educational institutes, private institutes and educational institutes which do not come under the purview of this order have also voluntarily involved themselves in this competition of wearing Sambalpuri. Some private schools have also notified students to wear Sambalpuri dress on Sambalpuri Day.
In this regard, fashion designer Sujit Meher said, “I proposed the use of Sambalpuri fabric for school uniforms to the state handloom department a few months ago. Since the government itself provides uniforms to the government school children, So they can buy and make cloth directly from the weavers. This will benefit the weavers and tailors and there will be no financial burden on the parents as well, he said.
