Ulipur Satranji makes inroads into US, German markets

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The handloom rug of Ulipur in Kurigram is making its way into the world market, opening up great opportunities for hundreds of unemployed women in the locality.
About 25,000 rolls of rugs, locally known as Satranji, are being exported every month to Germany and America. What makes Ulipur rugs unique is that they are woven from materials such as jute, garment waste, maize cane, and sugar cane.

Currently, some 300 women from the Monga-prone villages of Ulipur work at a factory of Tetultala to produce the handloom carpets.

A joint venture of Chhinnamukul Bangladesh, an NGO, and Karupanya Rangpur, a private enterprise, the factory was set up with a view to creating employment opportunities for the local women and exporting the rugs they would produce.

Shyamal Kumar Roy, executive director of Chhinnamukul, told The Daily Star that they are gradually increasing the volume of rugs for export.

“Hopefully, we will soon have more skilled workers to bump up the production of our business promotion unit,” he observed.

He said, “We are faced with a number of obstacles to expanding our operation. Still we dream of a golden era to begin as we are rich in resources like jute, garment waste, sugar and maize cane.”

Families of the women who work for the carpet factory are now better off. They seem to have broken through the poverty barrier.

Working at the factory, each of those women earns about Tk 1000 a month on average. Some even earn Tk 1,500 a month by giving more labour.

“It was only a few months ago that I used to beg from door to door. Now I earn a decent living working at the carpet factory,” beamed Sakina, 35.

Kimon Schneider from Terre des hommes (Tdh), Lausanne, the main donor of Chhinnamukul Bangladesh, recently came to Ulipur to study the NGO’s strategies for enabling the locals to attain financial independence.

He said a lot of effort has been made to create employment opportunities here in Ulipur. But the matter should be given more thought so that the working women of Ulipur earn much more than the minimum wage, he added.

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