The Dumka district administration is preparing to set up a one of its kind ‘Mayurakshi Silk Park’ where the visitors would be able to witness the entire process of making silk, right from breeding of cocoons to preparation of the final fabric.
Deputy development commissioner (DDC) of Dumka, Varun Ranjan, said that the silk park will help in branding of Mayuraskhi Silk, a home brand silk of Dumka, and at the same time will generate employment opportunities for around 300 women.There are plans of planting Arjun trees in the campus on which silkworms will be reared. The second stop will be cocoon storage centre followed by the third stage were silk is separated from the cocoon for which around 50 machines will be installed. The next section would be of making fabric out of yarn for which looms will be installed. The final stage will be dying of the fabric prepared.
"There will be a separate sales counter where the visitors would be shown different designs and the design they choose will be printed for them and given to them within 36 to 48 hours. Basically, the customers could get customized fabric," the DDC said.
This integrated model for display and production of silk will be one of its kind in the State. "We have a number of production units but there is no such place where the customers can see the making of silk fabric from the scratch," Ranjan said.He added, "People always complain that the price of silk is very high but they do not understand the reason behind it. Once they see how much effort is put in making silk they will automatically start appreciating it."
Ranjan informed that the centre will also help improving the quality of silk production. "Till date the workers only know about their particular field. For instance a farmer will just know about rearing silkworms and those making threads will only know about that. This centre will enable the workers to see the various steps of silk production and get a complete picture, thus leading to better training and improved productivity,” he said.
The district administration has already demarcated the area for making of the campus and the funds to be used for its construction will come from various sources including district development funds, 14th finance commission, MGNREGA and livelihood funds. The training to workers will be provided by Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society and the machines will be provided by industries department.
A total of 26,000 workers are involved in silk production in Dumka, which is the highest producer of silk in Jharkhand. "Jharkhand produces 80 percent of tussar silk of the country and Dumka produces 70 percent of silk in Jharkhand, thus making it the silk capital," Ranjan said.
Official records show that intervention of district administration has lead to an increase of 18 percent in the income of farmers in 2018 as compared to 2017.