The second day of the National Handloom Expo being held on the Parade Ground saw a paltry number of visitors despite it being a Sunday. The artisans who have set up stalls here state that they are disappointed with the low sales in the first two days of the expo which is slated to continue till January 9 next year. Interestingly, the expo was inaugurated by blowing traditional instrument by Chief Minsiter Harish Rawat on Saturday.
Mohammed Shadab from Uttar Pradesh who has set up a stall here said that the stall owners have been sitting idle for two days now. He said, “Despite it being the weekend, we have a negligible number of customers though their numbers increased somewhat in the late evening.”
Managing the Jammu and Kashmir stall, TK Pandita said that the sales had been average so far. He said, “In the past about a couple of years ago, we used to record good sales from the first day of the national handloom expo here. However, that is not the case now. God knows why the sales have dropped but we have ensured that there is no compromise with quality of our products,” he said.
Manning the Bihar stall, Pradeep Kumar has an explanation for the drop in sales. He opined, “The public wants everything for cheap. They aren’t willing to spend on such handloom items. But they also need to understand that original and pure fabric items do not come cheap,” he said. On being asked about the sale at his stall Kumar said that he had not sold anything in the first two days of the expo. He added, “I can only pray that this changes soon otherwise I will have to suffer considerable loss.”
On the other hand, many among the public in Dehradun have lost interest in similar exhibitions being organised on the Parade Ground in quick succession. local resident Ayush said, “Exhibitions being held periodically on the Parade Ground appear repetitive in nature so the public interest is declining.”
Another local visitor at the expo, Abhishek said, “Most of these stalls have nothing new to offer. A lot of them have little more than woolen garments which we can get from the local market at competitive rates.”
In general, the stall owners at the national handloom expo are facing stiff competition from each other without have made decent sales so far. On being asked for their opinion regarding the reason for dismal sales, most of the stall owners said that they cant understand the reason for this. Those who have come to Dehradun from other States like West Bengal and Bihar need to at least cover their transportation and other expenses incurred during the expo. “All we can do for now is pray and hope while keeping our fingers crossed waiting for the sales to pick up,” said Shadab of the Uttar Pradesh stall.