Lok Sabha Question No. 5646 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-06
Subject: Assessment of Handloom Sector
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: Jayadev Galla

## ASSESSMENT OF HANDLOOM SECTOR

## 5646. SHRI JAYADEV GALLA:

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

(a)whether there has been an impact assessment of the handloom sector and those employed in it due to the pandemic;

(b) if so, the details of the assessment along with the number of persons who lost their jobs, State-wise;

(c) if not, the reasons therefor;

(d) the steps taken by the Government to reduce job loss in handloom sector post pandemic along with the details of the outcomes of such measures; and

(e) the level of penetration of banking and procurement schemes among the handloom weavers of the country since 2020 classified, State-wise?

## उत्तर

## ANSWER

## वस्त्र राज् य मंत्री ( श्रीमती दर्शना जरदोर् )

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

(a) to (c): No handloom sector specific study for assessment of pandemic impact has been done by the  Government.  Due  to  unorganized  and  traditional  nature  of  handloom  sector,  such  data,  if  any, pertaining to this sector is dispersed and largely unavailable for centralized quantification.

(d) & (e): To  overcome  the  issues  faced  by  handloom  workers,  the  Government  has  taken following steps:

- i. The  States and UTs  have  been  requested  for  their  State  Handloom  Corporations/Cooperatives/Agencies to make purchases of the finished inventory available with the handloom weavers.
- ii. Steps have been taken to on-board weavers on Government e-Market place to enable them to sell their products directly to various Government Departments and organizations. So far about 1.5 lakh weavers have been on-boarded on the GeM portal.
- iii. To enhance productivity, marketing capabilities and facilitate better incomes, 135 Handloom Producer companies have been formed in different States of the country.
- iv. Under Weaver MUDRA/Concessional Credit Scheme, margin money assistance at 20% of the loan amount subject to a maximum of Rs. 25,000/- for individual weaver/Weaver Entrepreneur and Rs. 20 lakh for Handloom Organizations, interest subvention upto 7% and credit guarantee fees on loans for a period of three years are provided.
- v. Design  Resource  Centres  have  been  set  up  in  Weavers'  Service  Centres  at  Delhi,  Mumbai, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati and Kancheepuram to build and create design-oriented  excellence  in  the  Handloom  Sector  and  to  facilitate  weavers,  exporters, manufacturers and designers access design repositories for sample/product improvisation and development.
- vi. For export promotion of handloom products, Handloom Export Promotion Council has been organizing  International  Fairs.    During  the  year  2021-22,  various  international  marketing fairs/events have been organized.  Besides, domestic marketing events were also organized in different parts of the country for the weavers to market and sell their products.
- vii. Weavers are facilitated to sell their products online and 23 e-commerce platforms have been associated by Ministry of Textiles under a policy framework.

Besides,  the  Ministry  of  Textiles  is  also  implementing  the  following  schemes  to  promote  the handlooms and welfare of weavers across the country:-

1. National Handloom Development Programme;
2. Raw Material Supply Scheme;

Under the above schemes, financial assistance is provided to the eligible handloom agencies/weavers  for  raw  materials,  Common  infrastructure  development,  marketing  of  handloom products in domestic/overseas markets, Weavers MUDRA Loans etc.

The Government of India has announced a special economic package viz. Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan for boosting economy of the country and making India self-reliant. Relief and credit support measures have been announced for various sectors including MSMEs. The weavers can avail benefits of these relief and credit support measures to revive their businesses which have suffered due to lock down necessitated by Covid-19 pandemic.

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