West Bengal refugee body imparts skill to make footballs
KOLKATA: In keeping with Bengal's undying love for football, the state government is looking to make a mark in manufacturing the balls to make it a self-sustaining state.
Christened `Joyee' by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee; a refugee handicrafts team, under the mentorship of the MSME department, is manufacturing footballs and volleyballs.
“Most of the balls used for training and playing games in the state are acquired from Jalandhar. The chief minister wants us to take over that and we are looking at achieving that target by starting productions at a robust speed,“ said Manas Bhattacharya, former football player and chairman of Refugee Handicraft Managing Committee.
The committee, that has already trained over 100 people in football-making at their Bhimpur and Chandannagar camps, targets to engage about 400 employees in the next three years. The committee will also be starting two more training camps in Chandannagar and Howrah where production of football, volleyballs and volleyball nets shall be taken up soon after the training is completed.
Mentored by former footballers like Bhattacharya, Bidesh Bose, Prasanta Banerjee and woman players Shanti Mullick, the team has already produced 3,5,000 footballs in the last one year and is targeting to complete production of 1,75,000 more by the year-end.
The footballs are available over four qualities -Joyee Challenger, Joyee Dribble, Joyee Striker and Joyee Trainer -are priced between Rs 360 to Rs 800 with Challenger being the highest quality product in the series. While the committee is also working on premium quality balls for national level games, they are in talks with the Indian Football Association to use their balls in some games.
“Our balls will be used in the upcoming Kolkata League juniors,“ said Bhattacharya. International tie ups are also on the cards.
The volleyball, on the other hand, has only one variant -Joyee Smasher.
“The MSME department, under the leadership of Rajiva Sinha, keeps helping us with grants although we are self sustained and have invested close to Rs 1.3 crores in the initiative,“ added Bhattacharya.
Christened `Joyee' by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee; a refugee handicrafts team, under the mentorship of the MSME department, is manufacturing footballs and volleyballs.
“Most of the balls used for training and playing games in the state are acquired from Jalandhar. The chief minister wants us to take over that and we are looking at achieving that target by starting productions at a robust speed,“ said Manas Bhattacharya, former football player and chairman of Refugee Handicraft Managing Committee.
The committee, that has already trained over 100 people in football-making at their Bhimpur and Chandannagar camps, targets to engage about 400 employees in the next three years. The committee will also be starting two more training camps in Chandannagar and Howrah where production of football, volleyballs and volleyball nets shall be taken up soon after the training is completed.
Mentored by former footballers like Bhattacharya, Bidesh Bose, Prasanta Banerjee and woman players Shanti Mullick, the team has already produced 3,5,000 footballs in the last one year and is targeting to complete production of 1,75,000 more by the year-end.
The footballs are available over four qualities -Joyee Challenger, Joyee Dribble, Joyee Striker and Joyee Trainer -are priced between Rs 360 to Rs 800 with Challenger being the highest quality product in the series. While the committee is also working on premium quality balls for national level games, they are in talks with the Indian Football Association to use their balls in some games.
“Our balls will be used in the upcoming Kolkata League juniors,“ said Bhattacharya. International tie ups are also on the cards.
The volleyball, on the other hand, has only one variant -Joyee Smasher.
“The MSME department, under the leadership of Rajiva Sinha, keeps helping us with grants although we are self sustained and have invested close to Rs 1.3 crores in the initiative,“ added Bhattacharya.
