‘Astragram’ artisans hopeful of turnaround before puja

Kolkata: Processions, rallies and the sombre mood in Kolkata due to the protests against the R G Kar tragedy before Durga Puja had cast a spell of gloom on a village in Howrah’s Uluberia. But, with junior doctors calling off the cease-work, villagers are finally seeing a ray of hope. Close to 70 families in Guntinagri village, 65 kms away from Kolkata in Uluberia’s Howrah, are involved in making miniature dummy weapons, masks and other items of decoration. As protests peaked in the second week of Aug, retailers and Durga Puja committees put their orders on hold. Many even scaled down their orders, requesting cheaper quality products just for the sake of the rituals.With doctors calling off the cease-work on Wednesday, residents of the village are hopeful that they will be able to recover some of the losses since Durga Puja organisers are reverting to their earlier plans of full scale arrangements. “With a shadow of uncertainty over the scale of the festival this year, the demand for decorative items had dipped by almost 40 percent. The retailers even lowered their rates asking us to scale down the craftsmanship,” said Prabir Manna, owner of Kalpatru Products. Earlier, weapon workers from the village would go to Kumartuli to work in units producing the dummies. Eventually they started setting up workshops in their own village and hiring local people. “Last year, a month before the pujas we were working 16 to 17 hours a day. This year we are hardly working eight to nine hours,” said Tarak Panja, who has a manufacturing unit in his house. Many manufacturers had even decreased the number of workers. “It will be difficult to pay if we hire more workers. This is the time of the year when every family in the village makes a decent living. But this year many will have to settle for lesser earnings,” said Sandip Ghorai, who has been associated with the trade for over three decades.

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