The Gamosa challenge for Bihu celebrations

After two years of pandemic shadow over Rongali Bihu celebrations, Assam is celebrating the arrival of the Spring with renewed enthusiasm. Rising fuel prices and food inflation have cast a gloom but failed to dampen the spirit. It is the power-loom-made Gamosa supplied from other states flooding the Bihu markets which have posed a serious threat of destroying both Assamese cultural heritage and the state's local economy. This newspaper in Wednesday's edition and on numerous occasions in the past shed light on how the unscrupulous traders continue to violate the prohibition on power-loom Gamosa with impunity with the authorities looking the other way. Taking advantage of the lack of vigilance, these traders procure and stockpile the illegal power-loom Gamosas and sell these in the state through local vendors. Gamosa, a symbol of Assamese pride and unique cultural identity, is among 11 textile articles that are kept reserved for exclusive production on handlooms under the provision of the Handloom (Reservation of Articles for Production), Act, 1985 but the Department of Handloom and Textiles fails to enforce the law except for optics of occasional seizure of power-loom made Gamosa and Mekhela Chador. The objective of the Act is to protect the traditional handloom weavers against unequal competition from power-loom and mill owners. Assam has around 14 lakh handloom weavers and the traditional cultural practice of weaving Gamosa, Mekhela Chador, Dokhona and other ethnic textile products is a source of livelihood for the weaver's families. While hand-woven gamosa and other products are made from cotton yarn and are labour-intensive, the power-loom made Gamosa is adulterated with cheap polyester yarn and takes much less time which leads to a huge cost difference between the two products. Corrupt traders also dupe gullible customers by selling power-loom Gamosa to be a handloom-woven Gamosa. A power-loom Gamosa can be a replica of a hand-woven Gamosa in look but can never match in quality and a closer look and touch reveals the vast quality difference. The inability of a customer to distinguish between the two products is reflective of a section of Assamese people not being conscious of their own culture and tradition and not taking pride in rich cultural practices passed on from one generation to the next for centuries. The lack of deterrent prosecution of violators of the Act has allowed the traders to procure the prohibited power-loom products from other states even after more than three-and-a-half decades of its enactment. Increasing the penalty for violation can act as a deterrent. The current penalty is limited to imprisonment for a term that may extend to six months or with a fine. The fine may extend to Rs 5,000 per loom by which the said article or class of articles is produced, or with both, and in the case of a continuing contravention, with an additional fine which may extend to five hundred rupees per loom for every day during which such contravention continues after conviction for the first such contravention. Increasing the number of yarn banks is critical to the disbursal of subsidies on mulberry and cotton yarn yielding desired results. The state government, autonomous councils, panchayat bodies facilitating special kiosks on the eve of Rongali Bihu and the government making it mandatory for traders to sell Gamosa only through such authorized outlets curb mass selling of power-loom Gamosa and other products. Bihu Committees, student and youth bodies organizing an awareness drive with a physical demonstration on how to distinguish a power loom Gamosa from a handloom Gamosa will go long way in raising cultural consciousness on the preservation of the rich weaving tradition of the state. Women Self help Groups and collaborate with panchayats and local NGOs, Handloom and Textile Departments in organizing such awareness camps. Entrepreneurs, who have experimented with product diversification of traditional handloom products to tap export markets can also take the lead in generating awareness of how cheap power-loom made Gamosa and other textile products pose an existential threat to the weaving tradition of the Assamese people. While the state government can take measures to curb the entry of prohibited textile products, punitive action against the production of Gamosa in mills outside Assembly authorities in respective states is a must to protect handloom weavers. The Act applies, in this case, being a Central Act, the onus also lies on the Central government to take proactive measures. Prime Minister Narendra Modi by wearing Gamosa very often and, also during his foreign tours has made this important symbol of the culture and heritage of the Assamese people popular across the length and breadth of the country. The Prime Minister issuing a stern warning against illegal production of Assamese Gamosa on power looms can make the celebration of Rongali Bihu a landmark event in the cultural history of the state and trigger new hopes for lakhs of traditional Assamese weavers and the state economy. This Rongali Bihu heralds a new Assamese calendar year with the challenge of preserving hand-woven Gamosa.