Lok Sabha Question No. 2702 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-06
Subject: Traditional Skills in Handloom Industry
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: Manoj Rajoria

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2702 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.03.2020

## TRADITIONAL SKILLS IN HANDLOOM INDUSTRY

2702. DR. MANOJ RAJORIA:

Will the Minister of TEXTILES वस्त्र मंत्री be pleased to state :

- (a)  the  programmes  being  run  by  the  Union  Government  to  promote  artisans/weavers having traditional skills in handloom industry;
- (b) the ongoing programmes being run to make the children of artisans of the handloom industry skilled with the use of the latest technology in their traditional work;
- (c) the total funds spent on these programmes till date; and
- (d) the number of artisans engaged in handlooms or weaving across the country?

## उत्तर

ANSWER

## वस्त्र मंत्री ( श्रीमती स्मृतत ज़ूबिन इरानी )

MINISTER OF TEXTILES (SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

- (a) & (b): To  promote  handloom  industry,  the  Government  of  India,  Ministry  of Textiles, is implementing the following schemes across the country:-
- 1) National Handloom Development Programme
- 2) Handloom Weavers' Comprehensive Welfare Scheme
- 3) Yarn Supply Scheme
- 4) Comprehensive Handloom Cluster Development Scheme

Under  the  above  schemes,  financial  assistance  is  provided  for  raw  materials, purchase  of  looms  and  accessories,  design  innovation,  product  diversification, infrastructure development, skill upgradation, lighting units, marketing of handloom products and loan at concessional rates.

## A. NATIONAL HANDLOOM DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

- (i) BLOCK  LEVEL  CLUSTER: Introduced  in  2015-16  as  one  of  the components  of  National  Handloom  Development  Programme  (NHDP). Financial assistance upto Rs.2.00 crore per BLC for various interventions such  as  skill  upgradation,  Hathkargha  Samvardhan  Sahayata,  product development, construction of workshed, project management cost, design development, setting up of common facility centre (CFC) etc. is provided. Besides,  financial  assistance  upto  Rs.50.00  lakh  is  also  available  for setting up of one dye house at district level. The proposals are recommended by the State Government.
- (ii) HANDLOOM MARKETING ASSISTANCE is one of the components of  National  Handloom  Development  Programme.    In  order  to  provide marketing  platform to the handloom  agencies/weavers  to  sell their products directly to the consumers, financial assistance is provided to the States/eligible  handloom  agencies  for  organising  marketing  events  in domestic as well as overseas markets.
- (iii) WEAVERS' MUDRA SCHEME: Under the Weavers' Mudra Scheme, credit  at  concessional  interest  rate  of  6%  is  provided  to  the  handloom weavers.  Margin money assistance @ 20% of the loan amount subject to a maximum of Rs.10,000 per weaver and credit guarantee for a period of 3 years is also provided. MUDRA  portal has  been  developed  in association with Punjab National Bank to cut down delay in disbursement of funds for margin money and interest subvention.
- (iv) HATHKARGHA SAMVARDHAN SAHAYATA (HSS): Hathkargha Samvardhan Sahayata (HSS) was introduced on 1st December 2016 with an objective to provide looms/accessories to the weavers to enhance their earnings  through  improved  productivity  and  quality  of  the  handloom products. Under the scheme, 90% of the cost of loom/accessory is borne by  the  Government  of  India  while  remaining  10%  is  borne  by  the beneficiary.  The  Government of  India's share is released directly in  the Bank account of the beneficiary through designated agency.
- (v) ' INDIA HANDLOOM' BRAND - During the celebration of 7th August 2015 as National Handloom Day, 'India Handloom' Brand was launched by  Hon'ble  Prime  Minister  for  branding  of  high  quality  handloom products.  It  promotes  production  of  niche  handloom  products  with  high quality, authentic traditional designs with zero defect and zero effect on environment. Since its launch, 1333 registrations have been issued under 184 product categories and sale of Rs.861.93 crore has been generated.

Initiatives with various leading brands has been undertaken to bring out a separate range of handloom garments in their brand.

- (vi) URBAN  HAATS are  set  up  in  the  big  towns/metropolitan  cities  to provide adequate direct marketing facilities to the craft persons/weavers and eliminate middle  agencies. 38  such  Urban  Haats  have  been sanctioned across the country so far.
- (vii) E-COMMERCE -In order to promote e-marketing of handloom products, a policy frame work was designed and under which any willing e-commerce  platform  with  good  track  record  can  participate  in  online marketing  of  handloom  products.  Accordingly,  23  e-commerce  entities have been engaged for on-line marketing of handloom products. A total sales  of  Rs.80.76  crore  has  been  reported  through  the  e-commerce entities.

## B. HANDLOOM WEAVERS' COMPREHENSIVE WELFARE SCHEME

Weavers Comprehensive Welfare Scheme (HWCWS)  is providing life, accidental  and  disability  insurance  coverage  under  the  components  Pradhan Mantri  Jeevan  Jyoti  Bima  Yojana  (PMJJBY),  Pradhan  Mantri  Suraksha  Bima Yojana  (PMSBY)  and  Converged  Mahatma  Gandhi  Bunkar  Bima  Yojana (MGBBY).

## C. YARN SUPPLY SCHEME:

Yarn  Supply  Scheme  is  being  implemented  throughout  the  country  to  make available all types of yarn at Mill Gate Price. The scheme is being implemented through  National  Handloom  Development  Corporation.    Under  the  Scheme freight  is  reimbursed  and  depot  operating  charges  @2%  is  given  to  depot operating agencies.  A component of 10% price subsidy also exists on hank yarn, which is applicable on cotton, domestic silk, wool and linen yarn with quantity caps.

## D. COMPREHENSIVE HANDLOOM CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT SCHEME:

The  Comprehensive  Handloom  Cluster  Development  Scheme  (CHCDS)  is implemented for development of Mega Handloom Clusters in clearly identifiable geographical areas/locations covering atleast 15000 handlooms with the Government  of  India  (GoI)  contribution  upto  Rs.40  crore  per  cluster  over  a period  of  5  years.    8  mega  handloom  clusters  taken  up  as  announced  in  the Budgets  i.e.  Varanasi  &  Sivasagar  (2008-09),  Virudhunagar  &  Murshidabad (2009-10),  Prakasam  &  Guntur  districts  and  Godda  &  neighbouring  districts (2012-13) and Bhagalpur & Trichy (2014-15).

Under  the  scheme,  components  like  conducting  Diagnostic  Study,  engaging Designer,  Product  Development,  Corpus  for  raw  material,  Construction  of Worksheds (for BPL/SC/ST/Women weavers), Skill up-gradation etc. are fully funded  by  Government  of  India,  while  the  components  like  Technology  upgradation, lighting units funded 90% and other common infrastructural projects like  Design  Studio,  Marketing  Complex,  Value  Addition  Centres,  Publicity etc., are funded by the GOI to the extent of 80%.

(c): Statement  showing  details  of  funds  released  under  NHDP  during  last  three years and current is annexed as Annexure-I.

(d): As per 4 th All India Handloom Census there 35,22,512 handloom workers across the country.

| Annexure-I Statement referred to in part (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2702 for answer on 6-3-2020   | Annexure-I Statement referred to in part (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2702 for answer on 6-3-2020   | Annexure-I Statement referred to in part (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2702 for answer on 6-3-2020   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No.                                                                                                         | State                                                                                                          | Funds released (Rs.in lakh)                                                                                    |
| 1                                                                                                              | Andhra Pradesh                                                                                                 | 699.82                                                                                                         |
| 2                                                                                                              | Arunachal Pradesh                                                                                              | 266.76                                                                                                         |
| 3                                                                                                              | Assam                                                                                                          | 3099.03                                                                                                        |
| 4                                                                                                              | Bihar                                                                                                          | 100.91                                                                                                         |
| 5                                                                                                              | Chhattishgarh                                                                                                  | 115.26                                                                                                         |
| 6                                                                                                              | Gujarat                                                                                                        | 55.80                                                                                                          |
| 7                                                                                                              | Haryana                                                                                                        | 4.31                                                                                                           |
| 8                                                                                                              | Himachal Pradesh                                                                                               | 219.63                                                                                                         |
| 9                                                                                                              | Jammu &Kashmir                                                                                                 | 401.53                                                                                                         |
| 10                                                                                                             | Karnataka                                                                                                      | 248.07                                                                                                         |
| 11                                                                                                             | Kerala                                                                                                         | 182.71                                                                                                         |
| 12                                                                                                             | Ladakh                                                                                                         | 6.65                                                                                                           |
| 13                                                                                                             | Madhya Pradesh                                                                                                 | 156.44                                                                                                         |
| 14                                                                                                             | Maharashtra                                                                                                    | 143.47                                                                                                         |
| 15                                                                                                             | Manipur                                                                                                        | 680.45                                                                                                         |
| 16                                                                                                             | Meghalaya                                                                                                      | 0.00                                                                                                           |
| 17                                                                                                             | Mizoram                                                                                                        | 136.08                                                                                                         |
| 18                                                                                                             | Nagaland                                                                                                       | 272.65                                                                                                         |
| 19                                                                                                             | Orissa                                                                                                         | 734.13                                                                                                         |
| 20                                                                                                             | Rajasthan                                                                                                      | 37.54                                                                                                          |
| 21                                                                                                             | Sikkim                                                                                                         | 5.33                                                                                                           |
| 22                                                                                                             | Tamilnadu                                                                                                      | 1004.41                                                                                                        |
| 23                                                                                                             | Telangana                                                                                                      | 183.03                                                                                                         |
| 24                                                                                                             | Tripura                                                                                                        | 24.90                                                                                                          |
| 25                                                                                                             | Uttar Pradesh                                                                                                  | 1342.70                                                                                                        |
| 26                                                                                                             | Uttarakhand                                                                                                    | 35.79                                                                                                          |
| 27                                                                                                             | West Bengal                                                                                                    | 216.11                                                                                                         |
|                                                                                                                | Total                                                                                                          | 10373.51                                                                                                       |