Government of India Ministry of Textiles Office of the Development Commissioner for Handlooms
GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF INTEGRATED HANDLOOM CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
INTRODUCTION
The handloom sector is the second largest employer in India, providing employment to about 65 lakh persons. The sector represents the continuity of the age-old Indian heritage of hand weaving and reflects the socio-cultural tradition of the weaving communities. The Government of India has been following a policy of promoting and encouraging the handloom sector through a number of policies and programmes. Most of the schematic interventions of the Government of India in the Ninth and Tenth Plan period have been through the state agencies and cooperatives in the handloom sector. However in the face of growing competitiveness in the textile industry both in the national and international markets and the free trade opportunities emerging in the post MFA environment, a growing need has been felt for adopting a focused yet flexible and holistic approach in the sector to facilitate handloom weavers to meet the challenges of a globalised environment. A need has also been felt to empower weavers to chart out a sustainable path for growth and diversification in line with the emerging market trends. The Integrated Handlooms Cluster Development Programme is an attempt to facilitate the sustainable development of handloom weavers located in identified clusters into a cohesive, self managing and competitive socio-economic unit.
OBJECTIVES
The main objectives of this Scheme are as follows:
- To empower handloom weavers and build their capacity to meet the challenges of the market and global competition in a sustainable and self reliant manner;
- To facilitate collectivization of handloom weavers and service providers for procurement, production, marketing and other support activities to promote sustainable growth and diversification;
- To provide for common infrastructure and activities in a viable format in the cluster.
- To provide for development of handloom clusters in an inclusive and holistic manner in an environment of empowered and participative decision making;
- To encourage convergence of schematic assistance and support services from various schemes and programmes of various government and other agencies in the cluster to optimize resource utilization for betterment of the livelihood and quality of life of handloom weavers.

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