Lok Sabha Question No. 1137 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-18
Subject: Local Handloom Weavers
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: Virendra  Kumar

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1137 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.09.2020

## LOCAL HANDLOOM WEAVERS

## 1137.   DR. VIRENDRA KUMAR:

Will the Minister of TEXTILES वस्त्र मंत्री

be pleased to state :

- (a) the details of various schemes being run/ proposed at present in the country for development of small and local handloom weavers who fulfill only local requirements, State/UT-wise;
- (b) whether many handloom weavers have opted for alternative sources of livelihood due to lack of work and many persons have been trained to develop their skill in this trade;
- (c) if so, the details thereof alongwith the data regarding handloom weavers who quit their occupation during last ten years;, State-wise; and
- (d) whether any scheme is being run/proposed at present for the development of weaving skill in the country including in Bundelkhand area and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## उत्तर

ANSWER

## वस्त्र मंत्री ( श्रीमती स्मृतत ज़ूबिन इरानी )

MINISTER OF TEXTILES

(SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

- (a): The  Government  of  India,  Ministry  of  Textiles  is  implementing  following  schemes  at  present  for development of handlooms and welfare of handloom weavers across the country:
- 1) National Handloom Development Programme (NHDP)
- 2) Comprehensive Handloom Cluster Development Scheme (CHCDS)
- 3) Handloom Weavers' Comprehensive Welfare Scheme (HWCWS)
- 4) Yarn Supply Scheme (YSS)

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.

## 1. NATIONAL HANDLOOM DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (NHDP)

- (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 organizing marketing events in domestic as well as overseas markets.
- (iii) WEAVER MUDRA SCHEME: Under the Weaver MUDRA Scheme, credit at concessional interest  rate  of  6%  is  provided  to  the  handloom  weavers.    Margin  money  assistance  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 to the supplier through Weavers' Service Centre.

## (v) EDUCATION OF HANDLOOM WEAVERS AND THEIR CHILDREN:

Ministry of Textiles has signed Memorandums of Understanding with Indira Gandhi National Open  University  (IGNOU)  and  National  Institute  of  Open  Schooling  (NIOS)  to  secure educational  facilities  for  the  weavers  and  their  families.    NIOS  offers  Secondary  and  Senior Secondary level education with specialized subjects on design, marketing, business development,  etc.  through  distance  learning  mode  for  handloom  weavers,  whereas  IGNOU offers  continuing  education  programs  through  accessible  and  flexible  learning  opportunities relevant to the aspirations of handloom weavers and their children for career progression.

The programme envisages reimbursement of 75% of the fee towards admission to NIOS/IGNOU courses in case of SC, ST, BPL, and Women learners belonging to handloom weavers' families.

- (vi) ' 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, 1590 registrations have been issued under 184 product categories and sale of Rs. 926.23 crore has been generated.

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

- (vii) E-COMMERCE - In order to promote e-marketing of handloom products, a policy framework was  designed  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.  110.46 crore has been reported through the online portal.
- (viii) 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.  39 such Urban Haats have been sanctioned across the country so far.

## 2. COMPREHENSIVE HANDLOOM CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT SCHEME:

The Comprehensive Handloom Cluster Development Scheme (CHCDS) is targeted at development of Mega  Handloom  Clusters  in  clearly  identifiable  geographical locations covering atleast  15000 handlooms with the Government of India (GoI) contribution upto Rs.40 crore per cluster over a period of  5  years.  Components  such  as  conducting  diagnostic  study,  corpus  for  raw  material,  etc.,  are  fully funded by the Government of India (GoI) whereas components like lighting units,  technological  upgradation of looms and accessories are 90% funded by the GoI.  Other components such as creation of infrastructure for design studio/ marketing complex/garmenting unit, marketing development, assistance for exports and publicity are 80% funded by the GoI.  08 Mega Handloom Clusters viz. Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh),  Sivasagar  (Assam),  Virudhunagar(Tamil  Nadu),  Murshidabad  (West  Bengal),  Prakasam  & Guntur districts (Andhra Pradesh), Godda & neighbouring districts (Jharkhand), Bhagalpur (Bihar) and Trichy (Tamil Nadu) have been taken up for development.

## 3. HANDLOOM WEAVERS' COMPREHENSIVE WELFARE SCHEME

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

## 4. 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.

## (b) to (d): Skill Development:

Samarth (Scheme For Capacity Building In Textile Sector) is a flagship skill development scheme approved in  continuation  to  the  Integrated  Skill  Development  Scheme  for  12 th FYP,  Cabinet  Committee  of  Economic Affairs.  The  industry  is  facing  shortage  of  skilled  workers  and  provides  many  opportunities  for  unemployed youth  in  the  country  who  are  trained  in  the  sector.  To  address  the  issue,  Central  government  of  India  has launched Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector (SCBTS) and named it SAMARTH Scheme .

The objectives of the scheme is to provide demand-driven, placement oriented skilling programme to incentivize the efforts of the industry in creating jobs in the organized textile and related sectors to promote skilling and skill  up-gradation in the traditional sectors, and to provide livelihood to all sections of the society across the country.  The  scheme  would  include  skill  upgradation  of  handloom  weavers  across  the  country  including Bundelkhand area.  The skill upgradation training  is  imparted  to the  handloom  workers  in  weaving,  dyeing, designing and processing.

The skilling programmes would be implemented through following Implementing Agencies:

-  Textile Industry.
-  Institutions/Organization of the Ministry of Textiles/State Governments having training infrastructure and placement tie-ups with textile industry.
-  Reputed  training institutions/ NGOs/  Societies/  Trusts/ Organizations/ Companies  /Start Ups  / Entrepreneurs active in textile sector having placement tie-ups with textile industry.

The scheme will broadly adopt the following strategy:

- i. Aadhaar enabled biometric attendance system.
- ii. Training by certified trainers having Training of Trainers (ToT) certification by RSA/SSCs
- iii. CCTV recording for entire training programme and assessment process.
- iv. Third party assessment and certification by assessment agencies empaneled by RSA
- v. Placement linked skilling programme with mandatory wage employment in organized sector (70%) and in traditional sector (50%). Post placement tracking for one year.
- vi. Random physical verification of active training centres
- vii. NSQF aligned courses
- viii. Robust MIS and real-time Scheme information publicized in Ministry of Textiles website.
- ix. Call centre (Helpline) set-up to collect feedback
- x. Mobile app for different stakeholders to ease out monitoring and implementation mechanism.
- xi. Preference given to marginalized social groups and 115 aspirational districts
- xii. Funding and Common branding as per norms of MSDE
- xiii. Concessional credit under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana for self-employment.

Further to the above, the handloom sector is an unorganized sector and mostly scattered in rural areas of the country.  In view of unorganized nature of the sector, the data regarding the handloom weavers who have quit their occupation is not maintained by the Ministry.

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