The drive against illegally made gamocha and mekhela chador by the authorities will continue across the year and will not stop after Bohag Bihu.
The deputy director of the department of handloom & textiles, Ranjeet Deka said, “Selling power loom (machine) made gamocha and mekhela chador is illegal in Assam according to the Handloom Reservation Act 2010.”
Huge consignments of gamochas and mekhela chadors produced on power looms come to the Guwahati markets. In March 2018, the district administration formed five flying squads that included circle officers, handloom inspectors, officials of the tax department and police personnel.
Till 11th April, the flying squads seized 2,777 pieces of suspected power loom made gamochas, 20 pairs of mekhela chadors and 34 pieces of single chadors.
The raids were conducted in Chandmari, Bamunimaidam, Fancy Bazar, Vijay Nagar, Changsari and Nograbari.
Fancy Bazar will be under strict scanner as most of the seizures happened in this area.
Deka said that the wholesale distributors had stocked up machine made gamochas long back and are now selling it through various vendors.
A handloom made cotton gamocha costs Rs 50 to Rs 350, paat gamocha costs Rs 800 to Rs 1,300 and tosh gamocha also costs Rs 800 to Rs 1,300.
The gamocha made outside Assam on power looms are only cotton gamochas and cost Rs 30 to Rs 70. Therefore, their demand is very high. The power loom made gamochas mainly come from South India, said Deka.
Last year the drive was not so “effective” but from this year it will continue until the traders stop selling such gamochas and mekhela chadors, said Deka.
Illegal gamocha/mekhela traders will be punished
The traders who are found selling power loom made gamochas and mekhela chadors will be punished according to the law.
The deputy director of the department of handloom & textiles, Ranjeet Deka said, “Samples of the seized gamochas/mekhela chadors will be sent to laboratories for third party verification. If the product is found to be machine made, cases will be registered against the traders.”
According to the Handloom Reservation Act 2010, guilty traders are punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with a fine. In some cases both are applicable.
Along with sale of machine made gamochas and mekhela chadors, sale of machine made dakhona, danka, khamlet and phanek are also illegal in Assam.
The authorities will soon carry out drives against the sale of such illegally made products too.
Reacting to the authorities’ move against machine made gamochas/mekhela this year, the traders feel that the ban will benefit the local weavers but doubt if the local weavers will be able to meet the market demand.
During Bihu season around 3 lakh Assamese gamochas are required and the local producers mainly located in the villages around Sualkuchi are not able to meet the demand, said a gamocha trader based in Fancy Bazar.
The traders are also upset with the punishment scare. A trader said, “We were not aware that selling imported gamocha is a crime.”
How to spot a fake Gamocha?
Much has been talked about fake Gamochas and machine made Gamochas circulating in the state of Assam. District Administration has issued numbers too for the citizens to complain if duplicate Gamochas are spotted in the market.
But the question that arrises here is, how to spot a Fake Gamocha?
With these quick simple steps, you can find out if a Gamocha is handloom made or machine made:
Step 1: In hand made Gamochas, there are minute pores or temple mark at the borders of the weaving. But in machine made Gamochas, there will be a refined finishing.
Step 2: The price of a machine made Gamocha is much cheaper than a hand made Gamocha. A full length hand made Gamocha which is priced at Rs 190 or Rs 210, will be available for Rs 100 to Rs 130, if machine made.
Step 3: If you burn the border threads of a hand made Gamocha, it will burn into ashes. But if you burn the threads, and it crumple up, you can be confirmed that it's a polyster mixed Gamocha, and not cotton.