![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-77284368,imgsize-226429,width-400,resizemode-4\/77284368.jpg\" "\\"Filigree")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\nFiligree artisan Pankaj Sahoo<\/span><\/p>\n BHUBANESWAR: At 60, Rabindra Kumar Behera, a filigree artisan, had least expected to cycle around Cuttack selling a bagful of bread and biscuits for a living.
The unprecedented situation owing to Covid-19 has forced him to cycle for three to five hours every day to earn a meagre Rs 50 to Rs 100.
\u201cWhen I can\u2019t go out in the heat, I sell from the verandah of my house,\u201d said Behera, who is neck-deep in debt and often forced to ask the local shopkeeper to provide him groceries on credit.
He shares his fate with many other artisans who have been forced to sell vegetables and fish by the roadside or deliver those along with milk packets, paneer (cottage cheese) and eggs to people\u2019s homes.
Some have even started preparing idli and curry, vada and other deep-fried food for home delivery.
\u201cWe have to earn around Rs 100 a day to keep our hearths burning,\u201d Pradeep Prusty (44), a filigree artisan for 25 years, said. \u201cSilver filigree is a luxury item. In this situation, few would buy it,\u201d reasoned Prusty, who has wares to sell but no takers.
Some artisans like Prabir Kumar Dey (52) have failed at doing something else for a living. Though he tried selling paan masala, he couldn\u2019t do so owing to lack of experience. With his eyesight getting weaker, his family of four is dependent upon his younger brother, also a filigree artisan, who repairs fans nowadays.
The situation is particularly difficult with silver prices touching Rs 66,000 per kg from around Rs 40,000 per kg in March and the supply of silver jewellery to showrooms drying up. Only a year ago, Barabati-Cuttack MLA Mohammed Moquin had raised the issue of GI tag for this delicate craftsmanship in the Odisha assembly.
\u201cNow it is difficult to get the raw material from the market. We do not even have orders from the local market or outside,\u201d said Pankaj Sahoo (50), a master craftsman, who made 175 silver filigree trophies for the Men\u2019s Hockey World Cup-2018. \u201cBesides showrooms, artisans used to sell their work in exhibitions too,\u201d he added, hoping that the situation would start to look up after the lockdown is lifted.\u201d
\u201cEarlier, artisans in Cuttack used to make filigree items from 1.5 quintal of silver in a month or two. Now the quantity of raw material has come down to 25kg,\u201d said Bhanu Pratap Sahoo (48), youth president of Utkal Swarna Ropya Shilpi Sangh, an association of filigree artisans.
Brunbadan Sahoo (60), an artisan known for this deft carving of filigree roses, is only slightly better off. Having exhausted his savings, his family\u2019s only source of income now is his son, who is a medicine representative. He also fears going to doctors or hospitals. \u201cI have some orders for pieces of jewellery in the rose design, but it is difficult to get raw silver owing to the lockdown,\u201d said the man, who used to earn around Rs 15,000 per month earlier. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n