Integrated Handloom Cluster Development Program
Scheme of Office of the Development Commissioner (Handlooms), Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India, New Delhi.

872 SHGs formed, covering 10755 weavers.         Wage enhancement of weavers by Rs 300 per month at Varanasi and Bhagalpur cluster.         342 awareness camps organized involving 40800 weavers from the cluster pockets.         4800 weavers registered under Insurance Scheme.         Credit linkages fro 642 weavers with banks –Rs 53.75 lakhs credit disbursed         47 dyers workshop organized with participant of 1300 dyers leading to improvement in dyeing technology         59 exhibition and 50 buyer seller meets organized with total sales realization of Rs 6.64 crores.         25 export procedure training program organized with active involvement of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade and Handloom Export Promotion council New Delhi         800 new designs and product introduced         26 managerial Training organized for office bearers of consortium and local institutions         Establishment of 34 yarn Depot, total indent received by NHDC =Rs 84 lakhs         Showroom and display Arrangements -2         Product Catalogue developed by 20 cluster         Product inquiries received from 242 buyers and exporters, retailers and buying houses         Traditional looms -1580 looms upgraded by replacement of reels and heads         CFC & Dye houses –Proposal for 18 CFC and 16 Dye houses cleared by ministry as common facility center fro the weavers

FACE LIFT TO HANDLOOM SECTOR - An Imperative Beginning

What the handloom sector should look far then is not continuation of financial subsidies, but institutional support for modernization of production, steady and regular supply of inputs like yarn, dyes and chemicals at reasonable prices, training in design and innovative patterns of weaving. There is also a need to empower weavers to chart out a sustainable path for growth and diversification in line with emerging market trend. The handloom sector has an edge over the power loom and mill sector in its ability to commercially produce the goods in small volumes, openness to innovation, quick to switch over to new designs, adoptability to suppliers requirements and creation of exquisite designs. It has also the comparative advantage in terms of availability of skill base across the country, abundance of local raw materials and labour intensity. Yet this sector has not been able to fully harness its potential.

During the VIII and IX Plan, the Central Government has been extending financial assistance to the states on the basis of centrally sponsored schemes and intended benefits have gone to the beneficiaries as determined by the State Governments. There has been no focused approach in growth and development of Handloom sector as resources were generally spread very thinly. The working group for the X Five Year Plan had proposed a slight shift in the development paradigm--focus on cluster development.

In the Textile Policy of 2000, to make the Handloom industry capable of surviving in a globally competitive world, emphasis was given on encouraging and assisting excellence in craftsmanship in order to carve out a niche on exclusivity of design and product and for this purpose, on the provision of skill upgradation, technological improvement, product development and marketing. After the removal of restrictions on imports as per the W.T.O. obligations, the Handloom sector have seen erosion of fiscal protection by removal of the excise exemption in favour of handloom sector and putting it at par with the Powerloom and Mill sectors since the excise duty on yarn was abolished for all sectors.




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