Kaluhati shoe village here are humming with production of diversified footwear ahead of Eid, heralding a new horizon in making standard local shoes.

Owners along with workers of most of the shoe and other footwear factories in the district are passing their busiest times on the Eid festival. Sources said consumers’ demand for attractive design and good quality shoe has been doubled this year.

In the village, having pitch carpeting road and situated nearly 30-km away from the Rajshahi city, the factories are seen manufacturing adequate finished products to meet the gradually mounting demand of shoes and other footwear items in the region.

More than 5,000 shoe workers are working in the factories while other 2,500 women laborers are making shoe boxes. The village under Charghat upazila is famous for its footwear products among businessmen. The village has around 50 shoe factories employing around 6,200 male and female workers.

They supply shoes to most of the districts in the northern region. The factory owners are getting massive responses from all quarters which is a positive sign of furthermore expansion of the business.

Apart from working in the factories, many women have already become small entrepreneurs in manufacturing shoe-packets, bags, key-ring, purse and wallet. The people are taking advantage of establishing such types of factories with small investment.

Sources said each of the factories is now functioning round the clock ahead of the Eid.
The demand for footwear produced in these factories increased heavily this time in comparison to the past.

Shoe-maker Firoj Ahmed said each of the workers earns at least Taka 12,000 to 15,000 during the Eid season.
Abida Sultana, owner of a packet and box factory, said their goods are sold in both wholesale and retail markets. She said, “We receive more orders in the Eid season.”

Additional 2,500 labourers remain engaged in various works like designing, sewing, cutting, sole making and painting,” said Sohel Rana, general secretary of Kaluhati Shoe Industry Owners Cooperative Limited.

He had started business with Tk 20,000 around twenty years back and his capital investment is around Tk 25 lakh at present. He has been supplying finished goods to Aarong and some other posh shops in Dhaka at present.

Abdul Mannan, President of the association, said their business is facing competition due to the imported footwear.
He also said the shoes and sandals manufactured in the village have earned fame throughout the country.

“We are supplying products of at least 40 designs to most of the districts in Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions and some districts in Khulna division,” he added.

He mentioned that Shahriar Alam, MP, had taken some time-fitting steps to take the industrial sector forward around ten years back. With his initiative, Dhaka Bank Limited provided a loan of Taka one crore in the same year.
Last year, the bank also provided another loan of Taka five crore through SME Foundation that has now been adjudged as the turning point for the industry owners.

Hundreds of people, both male and female, have become self-reliant and they are contributing to the local economy through manufacturing shoes in the village and its adjacent areas.

Once, 15 people from the village used to sell shows on bicycles in Rajshahi city and adjacent areas. Over the years, the mode of the business has changed and shoes are now being manufactured in local factories enhancing the distribution chain.
At present, most of the families are solvent and self-reliant. Many families now live in brick-built houses with electricity.
In reality, the shoe village has been contributing a lot towards vibrating the socio-economic condition of the surrounding areas together with empowering the women concerned either directly or indirectly, Abdul Mannan added.