How textiles can help solve Manipur’s unemployment woes

Earlier this year, Manipur witnessed state elections. In the run-up to the elections, every political party aimed to address the problem of unemployment. And for good reason.

Although no northeastern state performs well when it comes to employment rates, Manipur is particularly worse: as recently as 2020, the state’s labour and employment Minister Thongam Radheshyam Singh, replying to a question raised by Congress MLA Surjakumar Okram in the Assembly during Question Hour, had said the number of unemployed youths in Manipur was 7,21,824 in 2014, which fell to 3,46,690 in 2018. And he was quoting data from the Directorate of Labour and Employment. To contextualise this number, officially, almost 10% of the state’s entire population was categorised as unemployed, according to Singh.   

But if the revival and popularity of the state’s textile sector is anything to go by, the solution to the state’s unemployment rate may not be so complicated. 

Manipur’s textile industry, closely rooted in its practices, plays a pivotal role in the socio-cultural and economic life of the region, and its impact goes beyond socio-economic aspects. It would not be an exaggeration to say the state’s textile is etched into every local’s life from birth to death. 

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And this is confirmed by official data too. According to the National Handloom Census Report published in 2019, Manipur has 2.12 lakh handloom weavers, and 2.11 lakh looms, with over 2 lakh handicrafts artisans. In short, for a state with less than 30 lakh people, over 15% population is directly dependent on handicrafts and textile manufacturing. 

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But according to officials, even this number is too less: L Lamlee Kamei, director of handlooms and textiles, says there are many weavers and artisans of the state whose names were left out under the handloom census.

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“These are the only registered data. There are more unregistered data. When we conducted the baseline survey for implementing various centrally sponsored schemes, we were informed that there are some weavers and artisans who have not registered under the handloom census,” said Kamei, adding there are more than 1 lakh weavers not covered in the last census.

The Center is planning to put an additional registration process for the new or left-out weavers and artisans under the census, he said.

And this is where MANITEX, the Manipur International Textile Expo, is trying to make positive interventions. 

Expos go beyond showcasing products

MANITEX expo, which ended on November 14, played an important role in marketing as well as business networking in market sectors for local entrepreneurs, weavers and artisans.

According to the official, MANITEX aims to provide platforms to local artisans, weavers and other entrepreneurs to showcase their products and service, assist in the sale of textile products, including machinery, and encourage brand development and innovation of new designs and techniques among others.

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In this year’s edition, the expo, while assisting local entrepreneurs (weavers, artisans and others involved in craft and art) to promote their products not just in physical stores but to sell online, is also assisting locals sell their products across the nation. 

According to Kamei, the Directorate of Handloom and Textiles under the Department of Textiles, Commerce and Industries, set up 274 stalls, including 30 stalls in the premium category, at a budget of Rs 2 crore. 

In fact, even as the expo was ongoing, the State Handloom Corporation is taking steps to go ‘beyond’ traditional outlets and brick-and-mortar stores. It has started selling local products online under the Amazon India portal, and over 250 products are available virtually. “Now, we are attempting to participate in the online platform on an individual level,” informed the director.

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“We are planning to groom our local entrepreneurs to export the products outside the state and the country. To do this, as part of the expo, we are organising a seminar on how to sell online with experts from Amazon,” Kamei added.

During the training, the entrepreneurs would learn various techniques such as uploading their products online, presentation, quotation and others, informed Kamei.

Artisans and weavers:

Shangte Khaling from the Tengnoupal district is among the few entrepreneurs who participated in the expo. Her products have gone globally but she and her six other team members, all women, participated in the exhibition to know more about unexplored countries to promote their distinct handmade bamboo products.

An artisan by profession, Khaling and other women from Khangshim Village under the Machi block in the Tengnoupal district came together and formed the Kadai Mawl Integrated Co-operative Farming Society a decade ago. They specialise in making household products from bamboo, like baskets, bags, and decorative items like table lamps, hair-clip among others. These seven women artisans of this society have been making and selling their crafts in melas, exhibitions and fairs in the state and other parts of the country.

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Their products have a high demand not just in the domestic market but in foreign countries as well. “We have been exporting our products to countries like UK, Germany and US as per their demands. However, we want to explore other countries for promotion, and we hope to find some contacts through this international expo,” Khaling told EastMojo.

At present, promotion and selling of their products are purely confined only through melas and exhibitions where they get orders in bulk or article-wise from contacts.

“We are yet to do marketing online because due to lack of proper workshed, sometimes we couldn’t meet the demands from our clients,” said Khaling.

Started in 2018, this year’s edition, the department, according to Kamei, also invited exporters from different cities for buyer-sellers to meet along with Handloom Export Promotion Council. At least 14 reputed exporters agreed to attend.

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Of course, not every weaver is the same: Peimichon, a weaver from Kamjong district, for example, focuses more on quality than quantity. Each piece of cloth she weaves takes at least a month to complete, which is reflected in her price. The cost of the traditional shawls and sarong or wrap-around ranges from Rs 6,000 and even goes up to Rs 10,000, depending on the designs and motifs, she said.

A resident of Grihang village of the Tangkhul community along the Indo-Myanmar border, Peimichon has been practising the traditional loin loom since she was a girl after learning from her mother. 

Now, she supports her family and children’s education through her weaving skills.

“It’s a strenuous and time-consumed work which even costs us our health, but this is the skill I am proficient at to earn for livelihood instead of doing nothing,” said Peimichon, however, she lamented that sometimes buyers/customers didn’t see the efforts they had put on.

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At present, she takes orders from her customer. So for her, the expo was much more to ensure value for her efforts, not necessarily to produce more products.  

For other weavers, nearby states form the bulk of orders. Take Philip, an entrepreneur from the Senapati district, whose buyers are mostly from Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland for his Poumai traditional clothes

He is now hoping to get new buyers or investors to expand his clothing business. At present, he and his wife, also a weaver, employ eight other women weavers from the district and take orders from their clients or sell at their store running in Senapati town.

“I have been in this business for over 10 years and now I am planning to expand it by supplying to other parts of the country as well as foreign countries. However, it is not easy to find potential contacts,” said Philip. For several people like Philip, building contacts can be the biggest stumbling block.

Expos like MANITEX are addressing this, and in turn, helping Manipur preserve its culture while creating something it needs a lot of: employment.  

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