Kamalpur's 25 batik factories make 500+ items a day, but sun, winter slumps and thin capital hold the trade back
About 25 batik factories in Kamalpur, Cumilla work under a few factory owners. One owner says work stops without sun, winter demand drops and paying staff then becomes hard.
Batik began in Kamalpur village, Cumilla Sadar, about 50 years ago with two brothers who had learned it in India. Today Kamalpur and a few nearby villages have about 25 factories making batik saris, three-piece sets, shirts, lungis and bedsheets. The goods go to Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet and other districts, are sold in over 200 shops in Cumilla city, and some are exported. The BSS report says that on the instruction of the factory owners about 500 or more batik items are made daily. The current head of Cumilla Batik Center says his father started the factory 35 years ago and he has run it for five years. In his words the trade depends on nature: without sun the work stops, demand falls in winter compared with summer, and then it is hard to keep staff on pay. At another factory, Cumilla New Batik Ghar, 15 to 20 people work daily and accounts are settled weekly. One craftsman wax-blocks 20 to 30 three-piece sets a day, and the women workers brush 30 to 40 cloths a day; pay depends on the work and skill. When capital is short the wheel stops. Owners ask for government incentives or low-interest or interest-free loans.
Lessons
- 1.Batik cloth needs sun to dry, so plan production and sales separately for the rainy and winter seasons.
- 2.Even when winter demand drops, wages must be paid, so keep a separate cushion for slow months.
- 3.Dividing work into wax, dye, brushwork and folding lets a small team turn out many pieces a day.
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