Lok Sabha Question No. 1963 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-30
Subject: Covid Pandemic Effect on Handloom Artisans
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: K. Muraleedharan

## COVID PANDEMIC EFFECT ON HANDLOOM ARTISANS

## 1963.  SHRI K. MURALEEDHARAN:

## Will the Minister of TEXTILES वस्त्र मंत्री

be pleased to state :

(a)  whether  the  Handloom  Weavers  and  Handicrafts  Artisans  have  been  affected  due  to  COVID pandemic in country;

- (b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) if not, the reasons therefor;

(d) whether the Government is aware that a huge number of Artisans and Handloom weavers have lost their livelihood due to lack of access to Markets and Raw Materials; and

(e)  if  so,  the  details  of  the  measures  taken  by  the  Government  to  boost  Handloom  and  Handicrafts Sector?

## उत्तर

## ANSWER वस्त्र राज् यमंत्री ( श्रीमती दर्शना जरदोर् )

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

(a) to (e): Due to unorganized and traditional nature of handloom and handicraft sectors, such data, if any, pertaining to these sectors is dispersed and largely unavailable for centralized quantification. To overcome the challenges being faced by handloom weavers, the Government has taken the following steps for their welfare:

- i) Since it is not feasible to hold conventional marketing events such as exhibitions, melas, etc. due  to  COVID-19  pandemic,  Handloom  Export  Promotion  Council  (HEPC)  has  been organizing International Fairs in virtual mode, facilitating marketing and sales of Handloom Products  in  the  domestic  as  well  as  international  markets.  During  the  year  2020-21,  12 handloom  fairs  were  organized  by  HEPC  in  virtual  mode.  The  fairs  have  been  attracting considerable attention from both domestic as well as international business entities. Besides, 53  domestic  marketing  events  were  also  organized  in  different  parts  of  the  country  for  the weavers to market and sell their products.
2. ii) During August-October 2020, 534 number of Chaupals were organized in various States to apprise the weavers about benefits under various handloom schemes.
3. iii) To  support  the  handloom  and  handicraft  sectors  and  to  enable  wider  market  for  handloom weavers/artisans/producers, steps have been taken to on-board weavers/artisans on Government e-Market place (GeM) to enable them to sell their products directly to various

Government Departments and organizations. So far about 1.50 Lakh weavers have been onboarded on the GeM portal.

- iv) To  enhance  productivity,  marketing  capabilities  and  ensure  better  incomes,  125  Handloom Producer companies have been formed in different States.
- v) Design Resource Centres (DRCs) have been set up in Weavers' Service Centres (WSCs) at Delhi,  Mumbai,  Varanasi,  Ahmedabad,  Jaipur,  Bhubaneswar  and  Guwahati,  through  NIFT with the objective 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.

Apart  from  the  above  new  initiatives,  the  Government  of  India,  Ministry  of  Textiles  is implementing following schemes for development of handlooms and handicraft and welfare of weavers and artisans:

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);
5. National Handicraft Development Programme (NHDP);
6. Comprehensive Handicrafts Cluster Development Scheme (CHCDS);

Under the above schemes, financial assistance is provided for raw materials, purchase of looms, accessories and toolkits, design innovation, product diversification, infrastructure development, marketing  of  handloom  and  handicraft  products  in  domestic  and  overseas  markets,  getting  loans  at concessional rates, etc.

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