The demand is there, but the income is not. It is shrinking. This is the story of Palang, or traditional wooden flask makers of Moorung in Monggar. According to the artisans, the price of one of their key raw materials, an alloy, keeps rising, leaving them to bear the cost.
Shacha Dorji has been making palang since he was a child. The 40-year-old artisan has seen the craft sustain his community for years. However, the income from the trade has been declining in recent years.
Today, it costs about Nu 1,050 to make one palang, which sells for Nu 1,400 at the point of production.
Artisans say the rising cost of ngoe-sar, a nickel-silver alloy used to decorate the flasks, is one of the main reasons for the increase in production costs. Its price has more than doubled over the last decade. A sheet of ngoe-sar now costs Nu 1,950, making it increasingly difficult for artisans to afford the material.
Shacha Dorji, a palang artisan from Moorung, Kengkhar Gewog, says travelling to Samdrup Jongkhar to buy the material is expensive. Artisans also cannot afford to purchase it in bulk due to limited budgets.
He says whatever they earn from making palang goes back into buying raw materials, including wood and ngoe-sar. Despite the shrinking income, they continue the trade partly because it is not too labour-intensive.
Other members of the Moorung Jandum Tsogpa share similar concerns.
Kinley Wangchuk, a palang artisan from Moorung, says the cost of making one flask has increased from a little over Nu 500 when he started the trade to more than Nu 800 today, an increase of about Nu 300.
He says increasing the selling price to cover the higher production costs could lead to complaints from customers.
The Dogtang-Moorung Tshogpa says that while the profit margin has narrowed, demand for palang has remained steady.
Sonam Wangdi of the Dogtang-Moorung Tshogpa, Kengkhar Gewog, says some people suspect the increase in material prices is linked to the implementation of GST in the country. However, the artisans have so far not raised any complaints or concerns about the price of ngoe-sar.
He says the artisans have no major difficulty selling their products, with the Tarayana Foundation also supporting them through marketing assistance.
The gewog administration is aware of the challenges and is exploring ways to help artisans. Since it has no control over the prices of metals, its focus is on maintaining stable prices and demand for the products.
The gewog office is setting up a showroom for local arts and crafts at Zimzorung along the Gyalpoizhing-Nganglam highway. The showroom is expected to give customers direct access to the products and reduce the role of middlemen.
Namgay Wangdi, Monggar
Namgay Wangchuk in Monggar
Edited by Sonam Wangdi
