Mahanta launches special scheme to boost golden muga production in Assam

Guwahati, Sept 28: The golden muga silk, peculiar only to Assam, is all set to receive a big boost in the next two years with the Assam go...

Guwahati, Sept 28: The golden muga silk, peculiar only to Assam, is all set to receive a big boost in the next two years with the Assam government launching an ambitious scheme called "Project Golden Thread" eight select districts of the state.

The scheme, launched with an outlay of Rs 12.95 crore, and expected to immediately benefit 2850 muga-rearing families, is being implemented through 285 self-help groups with the state rural development department functioning as the nodal agency.

Inaugurating the scheme at Sualkuchi, near here yesterday, Assam chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has said that it will serve the twin purpose of giving a major fillip to the state’s most important heritage sector as well as creating employment opportunities to several thousand families as a spin-off effect.Sualkuchi, it may be recalled is the largest village in Asia, and is the world’s largest silk-producing village, where all the 10,000-odd families are engaged exclusively in producing the golden silk of Assam.

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Muga is produced from the muga silkworm ‘antheraea assama’ that spins golden yellow cocoons and feeds on the leaves of ‘som’ (machilus bombycina) which grows in abundance in Assam as also in some districts of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

First made known to the world way back in 1662 by a French traveller Jean Joseph Tavernier, muga is supposed to be the royal fabric of the Ahom kings who ruled Assam for six centuries till 1826. Ironically, the muga rearers mostly belong to the below poverty line, with the new scheme promising to improve the lot of these families within the next two years.

"Muga has already caught the attention of the world during the past four years with the state government organising its prominent display in different international fairs, and it is going to bring in considerable amount of foreign exchange in the next few years," said chief minister Mahanta, inaugurating the scheme.

Mahanta’s government has also declared Sualkuchi as a Handloom Heritage Village, keeping in mind the fact that being located just 32 kms off Guwahati, it will also develop as a tourist attraction. Sualkuchi also produces the other exclusive silk of Assam, eri (produced from the cocoon of ‘philosamia ricini’ silk worm).

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Assam minister for sericulture Ramendra Narayan Kalita on the other hand said Project Golden Thread will boost the output of muga reeled yarn from the present 20 tonnes per annum to 33 tonnes by the end of 2003. The output of spun yarn on the other hand will go up from the current 18 tonnes to 25 tonnes.

"The project also envisages improvement of quality, diversification of products, remodelling the marketing strategy and build up a world image for the golden silk," Kalita added.

The area under ‘som’ cultivation too is being increased from the existing 900 acres to 1450 acres in the next two years, Kalita informed, adding that this would help generate more self-employment opportunities in the rural areas of the eight districts brought under the purview of Project Golden Thread.