Filigree artisans of Orissa need protection
By Debasis Tripathy from Cuttack
Orissa will no more feel proud of its wonderful filigree works, which is in the verge of destruction leading many families towards the dark whole of misfortune. It may not be believable but true. Cuttack , the one of the most prominent places of the state is not only important as a business point but also a center for art and culture. For its world famous silver works, it has been termed as ?Silver city?. The silver filigree ornaments etc. produced by the artists of Cuttack not only appreciated by the Indians but also by foreigners too. Unfortunately this Unique art of Orissa is going to become the matter of history due to lack of government support, non existence of co-operatives, poor entreprenureship, professional rivalries and the industrial finished products, which force the skilled silversmiths to close their business.
According to sources there are about 500 families of silversmiths popularly known as raupyakars in Cuttack are engaged in the work of making gold and silver filigree ornaments since 30's. They prepare different ornaments and models from the valuable metals directly, and sell them to the merchants. This has been their lifeline, but now these raupyakars move pillar to post for survival being triggered by the administrative callousness, and so many other factors. Neither they are united nor there exist any co-operative, they are being exploited by the big fishes and the dalals. ?It is not that the demand for silver ornaments or filigree works has fallen down over the years. Neither the cost of silver has gone out of reach nor the cost of gold. But the exploitation by the middlemen and the bereft of market push us towards the brink of penury??says Shri Kartik Maharana (60), an old raupyakar of Alisha Bazar. Absence of co-operative society, and capital adds more pin to their coffins. Due to lack of it, middlemen provide raw materials to these raupyakars and take away the finished products at a very lower price and sale them at exorbitant prices in the showrooms even abroad. Hence the lion shair of the market goes to the pocket of this dalals where as the bowl of the poor artisans remain empty. ?The Bhatias (dalals) are sucking our blood and our wages depend on the payments decided by them. They have became our masters? ? says Asit Karmakar of Binod Bihari. Why are you not contacting with the merchants directly ? when asked, Shri Karmakar says we do not have capital to meet the contracts of the merchants and the banks are not coming forward to finance us.
On the other hand the government is so conscious about the issue that it has no information regarding the exact number of the artisans working in this line. Though there is a post of Registrar of industries under the department of industries for this alleges Shri Ravindra Mohanty, a sociologist working on this project.
