Low demand pushes 'chatei' makers in Orissa to poverty

Decades ago when their business flourished, the makers of  chatei or mat in Bhadrak district found the supply outstripped by demand, but today they hardly have the means to make both ends meet.

The sudden reversal of fortune for the chatei makers at Patrasahi village is caused by widespread cutting down of date palm trees, the leaves of which are sewn into a chatei, thanks to road expansion projects.

"The demand for our work was high earlier as there was no chatei-making commuity in this area and its cost was lower than the other types of mats," said 85-year-old Suria Patra whose family has been in the business for the last three generations.

Patra, whose family is one of 80 now in the business, said that not only chatei, but also rush mat, doormat and brooms were made out of the leaves of the date palm.

"Male members of the community move from village to village, even 50 KM apart, to collect leaves of the date palms," said Kalandi Patra.

The leaves, once collected, are kept away from the sun and left under the sky in the night to be wet by dew for some days. Then they become ready for making the chatei and other materials, Saria Patra said. 

It needs two to three hours for making a chatei of a size 7':4'.  A family can prepare two to three chateis daily, he says. "We cannot afford to buy plastic mats and the khajuri chatei is cheaper than the mats made of grass sticks (sapa)", Padmanava Mallick of Gopabandhupur village under Bhadrak block said.

Kalindi says the margin now is so low that it is difficult to depend on this trade alone for a living and regrets that the government has not extended a helping hand.
  
While the demand for the hand-made chateis is on the wane, that of the brooms is still high in urban areas, but sadly the lion's share of the proceeds is taken away by middlemen. "We cannot do without these rapacious middlemen as we don't have access to the urban markets. We have to depend on them," said village head Suria Patra.