Lok Sabha Question No. 2266 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-02
Subject: Facilities/Schemes for Handloom Weavers
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: Manjulata Mandal, C.N. Annadurai, Ganesan Selvam, Dhanush M Kumar

## FACILITIES/SCHEMES FOR HANDLOOM WEAVERS

2266. SHRIMATI MANJULATA MANDAL: SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI: SHRI SELVAM G.: SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

## Will the Minister of TEXTILES वस्त्र मंत्री

be pleased to state :

- (a) whether the Government has taken note of difficulties faced by the handloom weavers;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons for the Government not been able to resolve the difficulties faced by handloom weavers;
- (c) whether various Welfare Schemes formulated for handloom weavers could not be implemented in the country due to inadequate and inappropriate maintenance of basic data related to them, if so, the details thereof;
- (d)  whether the Government proposes to adopt more scientific approach in this regard and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) the details of achievements in providing marketing facilities to the weavers and the total number of weavers benefited during the last three years, State-wise; and
- (f) whether the handloom weavers are facing competition from the power loom and mill sectors, if so, the steps being taken by the Government for welfare of the handloom weavers?

## उत्तर

## ANSWER

## वस्त्र राज् य मंत्री ( श्रीमती दर्शना जरदोर् )

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

(a) & (b): Ministry of Textiles is implementing following schemes to promote the handlooms and welfare of handloom workers across the country:

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

Under the above schemes, financial assistance is provided to eligible handloom agencies/workers for raw  materials,  procurement  of  upgraded  looms  &  accessories,  solar  lighting  units,  construction  of workshed,  product &  design  development,  technical and common  infrastructure,  marketing  of handloom products in domestic/overseas markets, concessional loans under weavers' MUDRA scheme and social security etc.

(c): The basic data related to handloom weavers is available in the 4 th All India Handloom Census conducted in 2019-20.

(d): Benefits to the handloom weavers through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), handloom weavers on-boarded  on  Government  e-Marketplace  (GeM),  portal  for  sale  of  Handcrafted  products  viz. Indiahandmade.com  etc.  are  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  adopt  more  scientific  approach  and ensure remunerative prices for their products and welfare of weavers.

(e): Ministry of Textiles has been implementing Handloom Marketing Assistance (HMA) scheme as a  component of National Handloom Development Programme (NHDP) across the country to provide marketing facilities to the handloom agencies/weavers to sell their products directly to the customers. State-wise details of achievements and total number of weavers benefited under Handloom Marketing Assistance during the last three years are annexed.

(f): To protect the interest of handloom workers, Government of India has promulgated Handlooms (Reservation of Articles for Production) Act, 1985. 11 textiles articles with some  technical specifications  are  exclusively  reserved  for  production  on  handlooms.  The  following  steps  have  also been taken for welfare of the handloom weavers: -

- i. Provision has been made for welfare of handloom workers through life & accidental insurance cover,  scholarships  for  higher  education  to  their  wards  and  financial  support  to  Awardee weavers above 60 years of age in indigent circumstances.
- ii. Under  Weavers'  MUDRA  Loan/Concessional  Credit  Scheme,  margin  money  assistance  for individual weaver and Handloom Organizations and credit guarantee fees on loans for a period of three years are provided. Also interest subvention is provided for Handloom organisations.
- iii. To  enhance  productivity,  marketing  capabilities  and  ensure  better  incomes,  154  Handloom Producer companies have been formed in different States.
- iv. To  integrate  Craft  promotion  with  tourism,  7  Craft  Handloom  Villages  are  being  set  up  at Sharan  (Himachal  Pradesh),  Kanihama  (Jammu  &  Kashmir),  Mohpara  (Assam),  Kovalam (Kerala), Rampur, Bodh Gaya (Bihar), Pranpur (Madhya Pradesh), Moirang (Manipur). Further, one Craft Handloom Village at Kunbi (Goa) has been sanctioned recently in June 2023.
- v. 16 Design Resource Centres have been set up in Weavers' Service Centres at Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi,  Ahmedabad,  Jaipur,  Bhubaneswar,  Guwahati,  Kancheepuram,  Kolkata, Indore, Nagpur,  Panipat,  Meerut,  Hyderabad,  Bengaluru  and  Chennai  to  build  and  create  designoriented 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 organising various International marketing events/fairs. Besides, domestic marketing events are also organised in different parts of the country for the weavers to market and sell their products.

## Statement referred to in reply to part (e) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.2266 for answer on 02.08.2023

State-wise details of achievements and total number of beneficiaries of marketing events during the last three years

| Sl. No.   | State             |   No. of Marketing events organised | Total number of weavers benefitted   |
|-----------|-------------------|-------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh    |                                  26 | 70,570                               |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh |                                  18 | 12,661                               |
| 3         | Assam             |                                  50 | 78,047                               |
| 4         | Bihar             |                                   9 | 37,407                               |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh      |                                   4 | 1,950                                |
| 6         | Goa               |                                   1 | 1,200                                |
| 7         | Gujarat           |                                   1 | 1,150                                |
| 8         | Haryana           |                                   1 | 1,550                                |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh  |                                   4 | 1,000                                |
| 10        | Jammu &Kashmir    |                                   8 | 4,250                                |
| 11        | Jharkhand         |                                   3 | 1,000                                |
| 12        | Karnataka         |                                  15 | 24,908                               |
| 13        | Kerala            |                                   1 | 2,600                                |
| 14        | Ladakh            |                                   1 | 630                                  |
| 15        | Madhya Pradesh    |                                  19 | 31,700                               |
| 16        | Maharashtra       |                                   1 | 1,250                                |
| 17        | Manipur           |                                  28 | 59,412                               |
| 18        | Mizoram           |                                  22 | 31,000                               |
| 19        | Nagaland          |                                  29 | 44,215                               |
| 20        | Odisha            |                                  12 | 9,000                                |
| 21        | Puducherry        |                                   2 | 1,600                                |
| 22        | Punjab            |                                   1 | 500                                  |
| 23        | Rajasthan         |                                   7 | 14,000                               |
| 24        | Sikkim            |                                  16 | 11,736                               |
| 25        | Tamil Nadu        |                                  15 | 1,07,335                             |
| 26        | Telangana         |                                  13 | 35,075                               |
| 27        | Tripura           |                                  18 | 85,097                               |
| 28        | Uttar Pradesh     |                                  37 | 35,500                               |
| 29        | Uttrakhand        |                                   2 | 600                                  |
| 30        | West Bengal       |                                   3 | 1,200                                |
|           | Total             |                                 367 | 7,08,143                             |

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