The Minister of Textiles
, Shri Kashiram Rana, has said that an outlay of Rs. 625 crore
has been envisaged for various schemes in the handloom sector
during the 10th plan. The Schemes which would be implemented
during the 10th Plan are Deen Dayal Hathkargha Protsahan
Yojana, Workshed-cum-Housing Scheme, Weavers’ Welfare Scheme,
Design Development & Training Programme, Marketing Promotion
Programme, Handloom Export Scheme, Implementation of Handlooms
(Reservation of Articles for Production) Act, and Mill Gate Price
Scheme. During the 9th Plan, an amount of Rs. 514.46
crore was released to the State/UT Governments under various welfare
and developmental schemes for the handloom sector, he added. Shri
Rana was addressing the members of the Consultative Committee
attached to his Ministry here today.
Shri Rana informed
the Members that handloom cloth production had crossed 7500 million
square metres which constitute about 19 per cent of the total
production in the textile sector put together. Handloom exports
during the period April-August this year have been of the value
of Rs. 1102.34 crore as against Rs. 837.53 crore during the corresponding
period last year registering an increase by 31.62 per cent in
Rupee terms and 26.63 per cent in US dollar terms.
The Minister told
the Members that assistance was being provided to the weavers
under the Workshed-cum-Housing Scheme, Thrift Fund Scheme, Health
Package Scheme and Insurance Scheme. A special contributory insurance
scheme for covering one million weavers is on the anvil. He said
that on the design development front, the TANTAVI exhibition was
one of the initiatives taken by the National Centre for Textile
Design (NCTD), which was set up in Delhi two years ago, for providing
the weavers with the designs conforming to the anticipated trends
and fashions in domestic and international markets. TANTAVI exhibitions
were held in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad
and Chennai as also at International fairs in Indonesia, Australia
and Italy. The response received for TANTAVI products both in
the domestic and international exhibitions were overwhelming,
he added.
The Textile Ministry
would shortly launch a massive programme of skill upgradation
of one lakh weavers over a period of five years. The Government
has also prepared a scheme to supply of yarn, net of CENVAT, to
handloom weavers, with a provision for reimbursing duty to the
organizations designated by the State Governments and the National
Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC). Pending approval of this
scheme, the State Governments and NHDC has been instructed to
arrange the supply of yarn net of duty to handloom weavers in
anticipation of getting the duty incidence reimbursed.
Shri Rana said that
the Government would ensure a well-defined and delineated area
for handlooms that would not be encroached upon by the other sectors
of the textile industry. This would be achieved by the effective
implementation of the Handloom Reservation Order. He said that
the developmental schemes would enable the handloom industry to
face the competition in the free-trade regime. The strategy to
face the challenge was by emphasising the Unique Selling Points
(USP) of Indian handlooms, he added.
The Minister of State
for Textiles, Shri Basanagouda R. Patil, emphasised the need of
the handloom weavers to concentrate on value addition to enable
their products to compete with other textile products. He told
the members that the handloom weavers would be encouraged to produce
items that could not be replicated on power looms, thereby creating
a niche market in the long run. The Indian handlooms would be
reorganised to cater to the class market in addition to the market
for the masses, he added.
The Members who attended
the meeting included Shri C. Kuppusamy, Shri M. Chinnasamy, Smt.
Sandhya Bauri, Shri G. Ramamohan, Shri G. Puttaswamy Gowda, Shri
A.P. Abdullakutty, all from Lok Sabha, and Shri R. Ramachandraiah,
Shri Lajpat Rai both from Rajya Sabha.
