Lok Sabha Question No. 4450 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-30
Subject: Promotion of Handloom Sector in Assam
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: Ramesh Chander Kaushik, Saikia Dilip

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4450 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.03.2022

## PROMOTION OF HANDLOOM SECTOR IN ASSAM

## 4450. SHRI RAMESH CHANDER KAUSHIK:

SHRI DILIP SAIKIA:

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

- (a) whether Assam is traditionally rich in handloom sector;
- (b)  if  so,  the  steps  taken/being  taken  to  promote  handloom  sector  in  the  State  especially  among  the various tribes in this State/region;
- (c) whether the Government has any new proposal to promote this sector in the State; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## उत्तर

ANSWER

## वस्त्र राज् य मंत्री ( श्रीमती दर्शना जरदोर् )

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

(a) to (d): Yes,  Sir.  To  promote  the  handloom  sector,  Ministry  of  Textiles  is  implementing  the following schemes across the country including the State of Assam:

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, Weaver MUDRA Loans etc.

In addition, the Government has taken following steps to promote the handloom sector:

-  Steps have been taken to on-board weavers and artisans 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  (including  3,816  weavers  in  Assam)  weavers  have  been  on-boarded  on  the  GeM portal.
-  To  enhance  productivity,  marketing  capabilities  and  ensure  better  incomes,  135  (including  14 producer  companies  in  Assam)  Handloom  Producer  companies  have  been  formed  in  different States.
-  Design  Resource  Centres  have  been  set  up  in  Weavers'  Service  Centres  at  Guwahati,  Delhi, Mumbai,  Varanasi,  Ahmedabad,  Jaipur,  Bhubaneswar  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.
-  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.
-  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 Organisations, interest subvention upto 7% and credit guarantee fee on loans for a period for three years are provided.
-  Weavers  are  facilitated  to  sell  their  products  online  and  23  e-commerce  platforms  have  been associated by Ministry of Textiles under a policy framework.
-  In addition to this, the state Govt has taken following steps to promote Handloom Sector in Assam:
- -To augment income of poor sections of handloom weavers, 33 yarn banks in 33 Districts have been set up to provide yarn to weavers directly at a 30% subsidized price.
- -A scheme called Income Generation Intervention to Handloom Weavers was launched by the state Govt. in 2019-20. A total of 8,996 weavers have been assisted in last 2 years out of which 1,249 wavers (approximately 13.88%) were from tribal communities.
- -As intimated by the Government of Assam, a Handloom Trade Centre is being established in the Head Quarter of Dibrugarh District in Upper Assam to extend the marketing facilities to weavers of  the  Districts  of  Dibrugarh,  Tinsukia,  Sivasagar,  Lakhimpur,  Dhemaji, Jorhat, Golaghat  etc. This  centre  will  facilitate  weavers  not  only  in  Assam,  but  also  among  the  neighboring  North Eastern States to support local tribal communities.