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Bengal's weavers are proud creators of Jamdani and Tangail sarees with beautiful designs. Among them, Biren Basak has engraved his name in gold as he has been awarded the Padma Shri. He is a renowned Jamdani and Tangail saree weaver from Fulia, West Bengal. Basak received this award for his lifelong contribution to Bengal's traditional saree weaving endeavour.

He started his career in the 1970s with just `1. Today, after multiple successful designs and traditional weaves, the annual turnover of his business is around `1 crore. At the age of 12, Basak had started weaving Tangail sarees. He used attachments and traditional borders with motifs such as lotus, lamb, and vine patterns alongside fish-skin patterns. He created the first Jamdani saree woven with Indian mythology – the story of Ramayana.

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about Basak's accomplishments and stated, “Shri Biren Kumar Basak belongs to Nadia in West Bengal. He is a reputed weaver, who depicts different aspects of Indian history and culture in his sarees. During the interaction with the Padma Awardees, he presented something to me which I greatly cherish.” Biren Kumar Basak presented a saree with a design of the PM addressing a mass meeting.

Along with Basak, 101 individuals received the Padma Shri award, while 10 individuals received Padma Bhushan and seven awardees received the Padma Vibhushan award this time.

At present West Bengal's CM Mamata Banerjee, cricketer Sourav Ganguly, musician Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Asha Bhosle, and Lata Mangeshkar are some of Biren Basak's renowned clients. Basak, along with his associate weavers, is introducing traditional and new designs on the sarees and expanding the market of Jamdani sarees across the country.