Bareilly: The kite of Bareilly got cut in the political bets, how it is being ruined 'Hand of unemployed people

The song from the 1966 film 'Mera Saaya' may have brought fame to the city of Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh for the heroine's jhumkas, but in reality, the market in Bareilly is famous for its kites and manjha. Bareilly is the only wholesale market and manufacturing center of kites and manjha in the country. From Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra to Madhya Pradesh, kite enthusiasts from Bareilly have been using kite-manjha for generations. But now the business strength of this kite and string seems to be weakening.

The GST, which came into force with the slogan 'One Nation and One Tax', has also put an end to the business of only manjha and kite markets. The government has imposed five percent GST on kites, which are counted as a simple and cheap hobby. In contrast to the changing society and hobby, the balance of kite flying was already deteriorating in the wind, now GST has dived it towards the ground. Traders of Bareilly say that from PM Modi to CM Yogi, promises have been made to take this identity of Bareilly to the heights, but to date, no one has reached the market to take care of them.

earn 20 lakh rupees in a day

Dilshad, who does kite business in Bareilly, said in a conversation with Amar Ujala that earlier there was no tax on kites, but now from making to selling, tax has to be paid. He told that today it costs only 60 paise to make a simple polythene kite. We sell it in the market for 80 paise to one rupee. Retailers also sell them from 2 to a maximum of 5 rupees. The kites made in the kite market of Bareilly go to big states like Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi. From December to Makar Sankranti, there is a business of about 20 lakhs daily, but today due to the ever-increasing raw material prices, our industry is standing on the verge of being destroyed. The remaining work was done by the Corona lockdown.

Paper has also become expensive, what should we do now?

Traders doing the business of paper kites are troubled by the rising paper prices these days. This paper reaches Bareilly from Mumbai via Delhi and Rampur. The paper packet which used to cost Rs 640 earlier for making kites has now gone up to Rs 750 to Rs 800. It costs about 320 rupees to prepare the first hundred kites of paper, but due to the increase in the cost of raw material, this cost has increased to 500 rupees. Whereas in the market these moths are sold for 600 to 700 rupees.

In conversation with Amar Ujala, Farooq Bhai tells that today more than 20 people are directly and indirectly associated with kite and manjha business in Bareilly. At present, kite work is going on in only 40 percent of the shops. The remaining 35 percent of the shops have completely closed. The remaining 25 percent of the shopkeepers are such, who prefer to do business during the season only. Momin says that our business is a den of unemployment. Only those people who work here, who do not have any work experience. This job does not require any degree, skill, or experience. Only by watching a person learns the work in a day. For this work, they get only 200 to 400 rupees per day, but the kite flying of political parties has also destroyed our unemployment base.

Modi Yogi forgot us by promising

Manjha along with kites in Bareilly is also famous all over the country. In all India-level kite competitions, only the Manjha of Bareilly is used in the country. But GST, rising inflation, and apathy of public representatives towards traditional business have completely ruined this industry.

Sartaj, who has been associated with the Manjha business in Bareilly for nearly 20 years, tells Amar Ujala that today Bareilly is recognized in the country due to kites and Manjha. Kite flying is a very good medium to maintain mutual harmony. Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs participate together in many competitions. They eat and drink together and fly kites fiercely. Politicization is also visible in kite flying which keeps people in mutual harmony.

He said PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and CM Yogi had promised us that important steps would be taken to promote the kite and manjha industry. Bareilly's Manjha will be famous all over the country but to date, the situation remains the same. The thread used to get Rs 470 a dozen earlier to prepare the manjha, but now this thread has started coming from Rs 650 to 700. GST has affected this industry a lot too. The cost of making a good cotton thread manjha pulley is about 2 thousand including raw material, labor, and everything else. After this, the shopkeepers sell it according to their rate in the market. Apart from this, the price of low-cost manja depends on the yarn and raw material.

Big people also decide the price of the thread

Hameen Bhai, who has been associated with this business for 25 years, says that there are only two companies for raw yarn in the whole country, Ludhiana and Chennai. But now these companies have also been monopolized by a select few. They buy all the goods from the company. After this, we supply yarn to small businessmen like us at arbitrary prices. These people keep increasing the prices of yarn according to their own accord. Today the government talks about many things to stop the Chinese manjha, but the same manjha is now available on the online site.