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Empowering weavers with powerloom: The success story of Sorokhaibam Biren

Sharing his success story in an exclusive interview with the Imphal Free Press, Biren from Bishnupur Ward No 7 says it was an old lady who motivated him to make the made-in Manipur powerloom to empower the weavers.

ByB Rakesh Sharma

Updated 14 Mar 2022, 6:05 pm

(Photo: IFP)
(Photo: IFP)

In a bid to ease the working condition of handloom weavers in Manipur, 60-year-old Sorokhaibam Biren of Bishnupur in Manipur struggled for nine long years to produce an innovative make-in Manipur powerloom that ensures time efficiency and less labour in handloom production.

A traditional handloom system (Payong) takes a whole day to make a complete shawl, whereas the powerloom made by Biren can produce 10-12 shawls in a day, weavers say.

Sharing his success story in an exclusive interview with the Imphal Free Press, Biren from Bishnupur Ward No 7 says it was an old lady who motivated him to manufacture the make-in Manipur powerloom to empower the weavers.

“It was in 1995, during a tour with my friends at Moirang Khunou, Bisnupur district where I met an old lady who was struggling the whole night, with a small kid on her back, to finish weaving a shawl in her Payong. When I asked her in a hurry, she replied, ‘If I don't finish this tonight, our family will starve tomorrow,” Biren says.

Since that day he thought of making a powerloom that would ease the work of weavers.

“Following her reply, I was indeed shocked and felt sorry for the old lady. And since that day I thought of making a powerloom to ease the labour of the weavers,” Biren says.

Biren began collecting raw material from a workshop, and by 2009 he had manufactured a powerloom successfully. The powerloom is manually operated and runs on electric power.

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“With a little knowledge of electric motors, I started working on it by collecting raw material from a workshop (garage) using the little savings which I have and was able to manufacture a powerloom successfully in 2009,” Biren adds.

Biren inherited the creative streak from his father, late S Naba, who was a popular personality in the locality, and was known for his creative mechanical innovations.

“I often accompanied him to places from a young age so I inherited some of his talents and ideas as a mechanic,” he says.

Biren’s powerloom became popular among the weavers of Manipur. By 2011, he started getting orders and requests from many weavers to manufacture the powerloom for them.

“It was the time I set up Biren Innovative Powerloom by taking a loan from a local money lender and started buying all the required tools and machines, including ‘Lath machine’ and started manufacturing powerlooms,” he says.

So far, Biren has manufactured 104 powerlooms and is providing training to his clients on the uses of the powerloom. Moreover, Biren is also giving a part time job to local women, especially college students who are willing to do the weaving work at his factory. For the manufacturing unit, Biren hired more than 10 people to help him.

As the demand grew higher than the manufacturing rate, he is still unable to meet the demands of the weavers, including from outside states.

“I have exported three powerloom to Agartala. As my product is limited due to lack of manpower and capital I had decided to stop selling to outside states, giving preference to local people,” Biren says.

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Talking about the hardship he faced in his works, he laments that the erratic power supply in the state is the only drawback in using the powerloom and delay in the manufacturing process. However an NGO SELCO Foundation provided him 20 solar panels as sustainable power sources in 2020.

Biren was among the list of entrepreneurs selected for the Start-Up Scheme of the state government in 2019. He, however, claimed that the bank has not sanctioned a single penny till date.

If the state government gives a little support in his works, he will be able to meet the demands of the weavers and export the powerloom to outside states, Biren says, beaming with hope.

Interestingly, Biren is also an athlete who won a gold medal in discus throw in the first North East Sports Festival held in Manipur in 1986 and a farmer.

In the 105th National Science Congress held at the Manipur University, Biren won the “Pride of Indian Expo Award” and won another national award given by the National Innovative Foundation and bagged many state awards.

Expressing hope that the government will lend support and help in meeting the demand of the weavers, he urged the state government to support such make in Manipur products to boost the economy of the state.

 

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manipurbishnupurSorokhaibam Biren

B Rakesh Sharma

B Rakesh Sharma

Staff Reporter, Imphal

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