Lok Sabha Question No. 3322 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-23
Subject: Development of Handloom Sector
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: Sunil Kumar Mondal

## DEVELOPMENT OF HANDLOOM SECTOR

## 3322. SHRI SUNIL KUMAR MONDAL:

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

- (a) the details of the steps taken for the development of Handloom sector in the country especially in west Bengal during the last six years and the present status of this industry during and after COVID-19;
- (b) whether the Government has considered to introduce any new initiative for this industry; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise?

## उत्तर

## ANSWER

## वस्त्र राज् य मंत्री ( श्रीमती दर्शना जरदोर् )

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

(a) to (c): The Government of India, Ministry of Textiles is implementing following schemes for development and promotion of handloom sector and welfare of handloom weavers across the country, including the State of West Bengal:

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.

To overcome the issues faced by handloom workers, the Government has taken steps to protect livelihood  and  welfare  of  handloom  weavers  and  to  promote  handloom  sector  across  the  country, including West Bengal. The details of steps taken and the new initiative of the Government in handloom sector are as follows:

- i. The  States  and  UTs  have  been  requested  to  ask  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 1.50 lakh weavers have been on-boarded on the GeM portal.
- iii. To  enhance  productivity,  marketing  capabilities  and  facilitate  better  incomes,  135  Handloom Producer companies (PCs) have been formed in different States of the country.
- iv. 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.
- v. Ministry  of  Textiles  has  undertaken  to  develop  Craft  Villages  in  Handloom  pockets  of  the country on important tourist circuits for integrated sustainable development of Handlooms and tourism with the combined effort of the State and the Central Governments.
- 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  organised.   Besides,  domestic marketing events were also organised 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.
- viii. Marketing  platform  is  provided  to  the  handloom  agencies/weavers  by  organizing  marketing expos/events to sell their products.

In  the  schemes  implemented  by  the  Ministry  of  Textiles  in  handloom  sector,  budget  is  not allocated State/UT-wise. Funds to eligible handloom agencies are released for various interventions on receipt of proposals as per the extant guidelines of the respective schemes.

***