Lok Sabha Question No. 1862 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-30
Subject: Celebration of National Handloom Day
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: Dhanush M Kumar, C.N. Annadurai, Gautham Sigamani Pon, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, Ganesan Selvam

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1862 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2021

## CELEBRATION OF NATIONAL HANDLOOM DAY

## 1862.  SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI:

SHRI GAUTHAM SIGAMANI PON:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI SELVAM G.:

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

(a) whether the Government is planning to celebrate National Handloom day, if so, the details and the aims and objective thereof;

(b) the details of steps taken by the Government to make the event successful along with the success achieved by such events in the past;

(c) whether the Government has taken steps to promote handloom through social media campaign and if so, the details and the outcome thereof;

(d) whether the Government has assessed the role of Handloom sector in the overall development of the economy and if so, the details thereof;

(e)  whether  the  Government  has  prepared  any  action  plan  for  design  intervention,  introduction  of updated technology etc. for Handloom sector and if so, the details thereof; and

(f) the steps taken by the Government to boost the handicraft sector acrosss the country and generate employment therein?

## उत्तर

## ANSWER

## वस्त्र राज् यमंत्री ( श्रीमती दर्शना जरदोर् )

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF TEXTILES (SMT. DARSHANA JARDOSH)

(a) to (c): In  order  to  generate  awareness  about  the  importance  of  handloom  industry  and  its contribution to the socio-economic development of the country, 7 th August is celebrated as 'National Handloom  Day'  every  year,  since  2015.  The  objective  of  this  initiative  is  to  promote  handlooms, increase income of weavers and enhance pride in their work.

Various activities and events are organized on the occasion. These include physical and virtual marketing  events,  social  media  campaigns  engaging  all  stakeholders,  interactions  with  handloom clusters  and  pockets.  The  occasion  is  also  celebrated  in  Weavers'  Service  Centres,  NIFT  Campuses, Indian  Institutes  of  Handloom  Technology,  offices  of  National  Handloom  Development  Corporation

(NHDC)  and  Handloom  Export  Promotion  Council.  The  occasion  also  provides  an  opportunity  to engage State Handloom Departments and seek their support and involvement.

(d): Handloom Sector employs a sizeable population of the country. As per 4 th census,  the  sector employs 35.22 lakh workers out of which 25.46 lakh are women. Thus the sector is both a symbol of rural  employment  and  women empowerment. The sector has  export earnings of more than Rs. 2000 crore per year (more than 300 million US dollar).

(e): Government  of  India  has  been  implementing  Block  Level  Cluster,  a  component  of  National Handloom  Development  Programme  (NHDP)  Scheme  since  2015-16  for  holistic  &  integrated development of handloom pocket, which provides financial assistance for various interventions such as design  and  product  development,  Hathkargha  Samvardhan  Sahayata  for  technology  upgradation, construction of workshed, setting up of common facility centre (CFC) etc.

(f): Government imparts various training programmes and schemes for   promotion, development and generation of employment for artisans of handicraft sector under 'National Handicraft Development Programme (NHDP)' and Comprehensive Handicrafts Cluster Development Scheme (CHCDS).

***