Sickle industry in a remote village

The village is familiar as ‘sickle village’. Its real name is Araibaria, located at Hossainpur Upazila in Kishoreganj district. In half of the country’s land, farmers had started cutting Boro paddy with sickles made from this village.
About 1.5 million pieces of sickles have been made and sailed in this Boro season from the village. Though the modern machineries have taken over agricultural sector, but sickle is yet a unique tool of cutting paddy.
Now the makers are too busy in making sickles in the village for the current Boro season.
Hearing the sounds of Blacksmith’s hammer and seeing business of the labors it would be seemed that the whole village is a big industry of sickle.
Labors are pulling out Hapurs, one kind of machine used in blacksmith factory. Some are burning pieces of irons and some are sharpening sickles by Ret, one kind of sharpening instrument.
About 150 sickle making factories have been growing up in Araibaria village and about one thousand labors holding their lives working in these factories.
Talking to the sickle labors it has been informed that 600 pieces of sickles could have been made from iron of a price of three thousands Taka.
Four thousands Taka would spend in making one thousand pieces of sickles and sailed in price of about six to seven thousands Taka.
Blacksmiths said they have to take loans from various NGOs and village capitalists because of lake of their own capital.
Labors informed that they do not get proper payment for their hard labor.
Along with the blacksmith factory there some handle making factories have been grown up also, where about three thousands handles would be made in a day.
Sickles of this village would have sailed in various Haor areas of the country like Sylhet, Rajshahi, Bogra, Pabna, Shirajgong, Tangail, Jamalpur, Chandpur, Sherpur and B. Baria.

Courtesy of The New Nation