• The ministry of textiles celebrates National Handloom Day on August 7 to honour the handloom weavers in the country and also highlight India’s handloom industry.

• National Handloom Day seeks to focus on the contribution of handloom to the socio-economic development of the country and also increase the income of weavers.

• The first National Handloom Day was celebrated in 2015. August 7 was chosen as the National Handloom Day to commemorate the Swadeshi Movement, which was launched in 1905 in Calcutta Town Hall to protest against the partition of Bengal by the British Government. The movement was aimed at reviving domestic products and production processes. It  encouraged indigenous industries and the spirit of Swadeshi, which included handloom weavers as well.

Handloom sector

• After agriculture, the handloom sector is the second largest income generating activity in the country. 

• The sector provides direct and indirect employment to 35.22 lakh weavers and allied workers. 

• Over 70 per cent of handloom weavers and allied workers are women and it acts as a key to women’s empowerment.

• This sector contributes nearly 15 per cent of the cloth production in the country and also contributes to the export earnings of the country. 

• According to the ministry of textiles, 95 per cent of the world’s hand woven fabric comes from India.

• According to the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, the export of handloom products from India was valued at $343.69 million in the financial year 2019, with the US, UK, Italy, and Germany, being pertinent importers.

• As per the Fourth All India Handloom Census (2019-20), the total number of households in India engaged in handloom activities (weaving and allied activities) is 31.45 lakh.

• Four states account for nearly 18 lakh of all weaver households in the country. These states are Assam (10.9 lakh), West Bengal (3.4 lakh), Manipur (2.1 lakh) and Tamil Nadu (1.7 lakh).

• The adoption of modern techniques and economic liberalisation has made serious inroads into the handloom sector. Competition from powerloom and mill sector, availability of cheaper imported fabrics, changing consumer preferences and alternative employment opportunities have threatened the vibrancy of the handloom sector.

The government has been following a policy of promoting and encouraging the handloom sector through a number of programmes and schemes. Some of them are:

1) The National Handloom Development Programme

• The scheme follows a need-based approach for integrated and holistic development of handlooms and welfare of handloom weavers. 

• The scheme supports weavers, both within and outside the cooperative fold including Self Help Groups, NGOs, etc towards raw material, design inputs, technology up-gradation, marketing support through exhibitions, create permanent infrastructure in the form of Urban Haats, marketing complexes, development of web portal for e-marketing of handloom products, etc.

Main components of the scheme are:

• Concessional Credit (MUDRA loans)

• Block Level Cluster

• Handloom Marketing Assistance

• Marketing Incentive.

2) The Comprehensive Handloom Cluster Development Scheme

• It is implemented for development of mega handloom clusters in geographical locations covering at least 15,000 handlooms with the government of India contribution up to Rs 40 crore per cluster over a period of five years.

3) The Yarn Supply Scheme

• The government is implementing Yarn Supply Scheme throughout the country to make available all types of yarn at Mill Gate Price to the eligible handloom weavers so as to facilitate regular supply of basic raw materials to the handloom sector and help utilise the full employment potential of the sector. 

• The scheme is being implemented through National Handloom  Development Corporation, Lucknow.

4) Handloom Weavers Comprehensive Welfare Scheme

• It provides social security benefits to handloom weavers/workers. The scheme has two components.

• Life & Accidental Insurance under PMJJBY and PMSBY: Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) are insurance schemes offering life and accidental & disability insurance coverage on natural/accidental death, total/partial disability to handloom weavers/workers in the age group of 18-50 years. 

• Converged Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana (MGBBY): It is an insurance scheme offering life insurance cover and accidental insurance cover for death or disability for a closed group of handloom weavers/workers in the age group of 51-59 years.

‘India Handloom’ Brand

The India Handloom Brand (IHB) was launched on August 7, 2015 to endorse the quality of the products in terms of raw material, processing, weaving and other parameters besides social and environmental compliances for earning the trust of the customers. The IHB is given only to high quality defect free authentic handloom products for catering to the needs of those consumers who are looking for niche handmade products. The IHB is aimed at generating a special market space and increased earnings to the weavers.

e-Dhaga app

The government launched Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) and e-Dhaga mobile app in 2016 to bring efficiency in service delivery to the handloom weavers and help them to access information on 24x7 basis. The app is available in 10 languages.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store