International Journal of Management (IJM) Volume 11, Issue 11, November 2020, pp. 1101-1114. Article ID: IJM_11_11_103 Available online at http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJM?Volume=11&Issue=11 Journal Impact Factor (2020): 10.1471 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com ISSN Print: 0976-6502 and ISSN Online: 0976-6510 DOI: 10.34218/IJM.11.11.2020.103 © IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed IMPACT OF POST COVID-19 AND MARKETING OF SAMBALPURI HANDLOOMS: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF WESTERN ODISHA Kunal Mishra, Dr. T. K.Das Sambalpur University, Jyoti Vihar, Burla, India ABSTRACT The Western region of Odisha have been consisting of nine districts which are the hub of Sambalpuri handloom industries. These handloom industries are the cottage industries where the weavers produce sarees in the brand "Sambalpuri Sarees" at their home. The entire family members engage themselves for production of 'Sambalpuri Patta' and they do not require any assi stance from outside workforce. Since time immemorial this Sambalpuri handloom cottage industries have been an integral part of Odisha's economy. In the districts of Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Sonepur, Balangir, Kalahandi, Boudh and Nuapada these Sambapuri Cottage industries have been flourished which are in unorganized sector, ranks to agriculture in terms of inc Key words: Sambalpuri, Weaver, Handloom, COVID, Marketing . Cite this Article: Kunal Mishra and T. K.Das, Impact of Post Covid-19 and Marketing of Sambalpuri Handlooms: An Empirical Investigation of Western Odisha, International Journal of Management, 11(11), 2020, pp 1101-1114. http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJM?Volume=11&Issue=11 1. INTRODUCTION The Western region of Odisha have been consisting of nine districts which are the hub of Sambalpuri handloom industries. These handloom industries are the cottage industries where the weavers produce sarees in the brand “Sambalpuri Sarees” at their home. The entire family members engage themselves for production of ‘Sambalpuri Patta’ and they do not require any assistance from outside workforce. Since time immemorial this Sambalpuri handloom cottage industries have been an integral part of Odisha’s economy. In the districts of Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Sonepur, Balangir, Kalahandi, Boudh and Nuapada these Sambapuri Cottage industries have been flourished which are in unorganized sector, ranks to agriculture in terms of income and employment. Out of 10 million people engaged in handlooms in India, about 1,50,000 weavers of these nine districts of Western Odisha are part http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 1101 [email protected] Impact of Post Covid-19 and Marketing of Sambalpuri Handlooms: An Empirical Investigation of Western Odisha of the entire weavers community. The Sambalpuri Handloom industry is highly labour intensive which belong to rural areas of Odisha. Inspite of tremendous odds and challenges, resilience and competition from power looms and mill sectors, the ‘Sambalpuri Handloom Sarees’ has shown a remarkable growth because of its unique pattern and design which is not found in any other States or country of the world. The Sambalpuri Sarees produced by the weavers of Western region of Odisha have been successful on account of its technical designs and skills. The designs of the sarees are inherited from ancient culture and tradition of the country which the weavers develop and they are the artisans, artist of the design acquired skill from their ancestors. Their sensitive artistic mind generally suit to change in seasons tastes and fashions for which the ‘Sambalpuri Sarees’ owes a debt of gratitude throughout the country and abroad. It is on March, 11, 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as an epidemic and pandemic. Basing on it the Government of India announced a stringent nationwide lock down from March, 25, 2020. The economic activities of the country became halt. Till date the epidemic is continuing and it has affected the economic life of the weavers communities heavily. Therefore the author took a case study of one district of Western Odisha named Subarnapur, the erstwhile district Sonepur to understand the plight of the weavers during this pandemic. 2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY • To study the evolution of the Sambalpuri HandloomIndustry in Subarnapur District. • To study the general characteristics of the Sambalpuri Handloom Industry in Subarnapur District. • To explore the social and economical benefits derived from weaving of Subarnapur District and to ascertain whether there has been any improvement in the life of weavers on socio economic status 3. METHOD OF THE STUDY The method of the study is empirical in nature. A door to door survey with a questionnaire have been done during the pandemic and an analysis has been drawn on different aspects of the weavers. The study is a sample one relating to Subarnapur district of Odisha which constitutes an area of 2344 sq km with a population of 5,50,659 having 2 Sub Division, 4 Tahasils, 6 Blocks, 1 Municipality, 2 Notified Area Council (NAC), 86 Gram Panchayat and 959 Villages. For the betterment of the study data has been collected from the secondary sources also on the records available with the Additional Directorate of Textile (ADT), Subarnapur. The sources of secondary data have been indicated in the study as and when necessary. Here the angle of the study has been elaborated under heading Survey Design as stated below. 4. SURVEY DESIGN The scholar used Multi Stage Sampling method for collection of Primay datas. In the first stage the district has been divided into blocks. In the second stage each block has been divided into villages which concentrate on Sambalpuri clothes. Thus in total the scholar selected 6 blocks as specified in the tables. The scholar surveyed 4 clusters of Subarnapur District which are Subarnapur, Birmaharajpur, Ulunda and Binka and out of the clusters he took 50 samples in shape of questionnaires from Bairkhaman and Sagarpali, 40 samples from Subalaya, 35 samples from Chadeipank and 40 samples from Naktamunda. So all together 165 samples which constitute 3.5 percent of the total clusters identified at random. Specific weightage has been given in the process, to units belonging to different organizational categories of weavers households as in proportion to its ascertained relative strength of the http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJM 1102 [email protected] Kunal Mishra and T. K.Das village. All and above, the field survey has been restricted to a manageable number of important handloom centres on account of time and resources which are the stumbling block in the study. Since the handloom units are unorganized in nature and its wide dispersion in location, it is a constraint for coverage. Further some weavers especially the master weavers are in reluctance to provide information and the absence of the account keeping habit among them are some of the other difficulties. 5. NATURE OF THE STUDY The study has been done for academic pursuits to understand the economic growth of the weavers. 6. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY The present study is limited to one district out of the nine districts of Western Odisha where Sambalpuri Clothes are produced. Other limitations may be incidental to the design, conduct and coverage of the survey, with the nature of cottage industry and the persons engaged in making the Sambalpuri Handloom. A majority of the respondents are illiterate. The answers given by the respondents to some of the questions are recorded with approximate figures. The possibility of understatement or overstatement by the interviewed, under the circumstances, might not be ruled out inspite of precautions taken. The non availability of the required and reliable information from both published and unpublished records is one of the other limitation. The problems faced by the weavers from economic and social point may be the other causes. Therefore, the problems of the weavers cannot be analyzed fully through economic tools alone. In view of this, the study should be interpreted and understood within these limitations. However every possible care has been taken to present the information in an unbiased and clear manner, keeping in mind the objectivity, accuracy and clarity. 7. PERSPECTIVE OF THE STUDY The Sambalpuri Handloom Weaving employs a large number of people in the western region of Odisha for handloom weaving which is outstanding in nature. In around 1765 A.D there was the growth of weaving of Sambalpuri design clothes by the “Bhulia- Meher Community in Sonepur, Odisha. It is said that, the Bhulia Meher are the aborigines of Rajasthan and Delhi who moved to Dhamantari and Dhansa villages of Chattisgarh. In course of time they migrated to Patnagarh in the district of Balangir during the kingship of Chauhan King Ramai Deb ascended the throne of Balangir-Patnagarh which was known as Patna state during the British regime. It is presumed that the original Bhulia Meher community, after settling down in the region, intermingled with the other castes too and soon the Kosta Mehers (who are usually tussar weavers) and Kuli Mehers (who are the least skilled labour class) came into existence. The District predominantly consists of the Bhulia and Kosta Meher and the Ganda weavers. Kosta and Bhulia castes figure around 30% and 50% respectively each, whereas Harijan/ Kuli castes account for 20% only of the total population of weavers in the District. Tusser silk weaving was for many years a principal industry of the Sambalpur District of which Barharh was a part. Dr Short who visited Sambalpur in 1855 found that tusser silk was manufactured to a great extent, the fabrics being used locally and also exported. Five large villages or towns were occupied in weaving tusser, and in each, at the very lowest computation, 1,000 tans or pieces were produced annually. The culture of the tusser silkworm was carried on in almost every jungle village and at least 7.5 million cocoons were produced.