By Narayan Tumbapo, Panchthar, Sept. 23: Service seekers visiting the Health Office Panchthar on Wednesdays and Fridays can easily notice a change in the clothing worn by its staff.
Dressed in waistcoats made from Dhaka fabric featuring the same colour and pattern, the employees have added a new look not only to the office environment but also to the recognition of local products.
The employees of the Health Office Panchthar started wearing Dhaka clothing after the Koshi Province Government instructed staff at offices under it to wear locally produced fabrics to promote local products.
Eleven employees at the office have started using Dhaka fabric for their waistcoats. With the staff attending the office in Dhaka clothing of the same design, colour and pattern, the office has also developed a distinct identity.
Ganesh Tumbapo, vaccination supervisor at the Health Office, said that incorporating local skills and products into the formal dress of a government office gave them a sense that locally made products were being respected. “It is a matter of pride to enter the office wearing a government Dhaka uniform that gives recognition to local products,” he said.
The provincial government has also reportedly provided Rs. 5,500 per employee to support the arrangement for wearing locally produced clothing. Although the provincial government sent the money in June/July for employees to start wearing the clothing from July/August, many government office employees in Panchthar have yet to wear the prescribed attire, according to officials.
The provincial government has issued a circular requiring offices to make employees wear locally produced clothing every Wednesday and Friday. The circular reportedly states that during monitoring, the money provided for the clothing would be recovered if employees were found not wearing the prescribed attire after receiving the allowance.
Government offices under the provincial government in Panchthar include the Health Office, District Hospital, Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Veterinary Hospital and Animal Services Expert Centre and the Water Supply and Sanitation Division Office, among others.
Dhaka entrepreneurs encouraged
The use of Dhaka fabric as government office attire has brought new hope to local Dhaka entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs have long complained that although the government has been providing training, equipment and subsidies to support Dhaka production, there has not been enough support for marketing the products.
Business operators said Dhaka entrepreneurs have not been able to benefit as expected because they can produce the fabric but struggle to find markets. They expect the growing use of Dhaka fabric in government offices to provide local products with a regular market.
Entrepreneurs had been demanding for years that the government use Dhaka fabric as official attire. Dilkumari Phago, a Dhaka entrepreneur from Phidim, said she was happy that their long-standing demand was finally being addressed through the use of Dhaka fabric as government office attire.
“It is a matter of happiness for us that Dhaka has been given a place as government attire. We expect this will help expand the market for local products,” she said.
Hundreds of women in Panchthar, Taplejung, Ilam, Tehrathum and Dhankuta districts of Koshi Province are involved in traditional Dhaka production enterprises. The thread woven on their looms has now reached government offices in the form of official clothing.
This has created the possibility of establishing Dhaka not merely as clothing, but also as a means of connecting local skills, labour, identity and the local economy.
The Rising Nepal
