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CHAPTER 3

HANDLOOM WEAVING

INDUSTRY- AN OVERVIEW

India has a rich cultural heritage and the art of handweaving

formed its integral part. History has it that

hand

weaving was in existence In India for over five thousand and


eight

hundred years now.

texts

contain

handloom.

umpteen

The very early

Indian

references to the

glory

In the annals of history the travel

Ormi

handloom

and

industry

Marcopolo spelt out


in

the

the by-gone days.

There

that

days

patronised by many abroad in the East

Herodotus

of

like

of

of

the

are

many

in

those

and

West.

show that Indian handloom cloths

Greece, and scholars

was

Tavernier,

glory

instances
was

that

accounts

Fasiyan, Huan Tsang, Warthima, Bernier, Garriri,


General

religious

Magasthanese

and

Among the hundreds of small scale and cottage arts

and

Pliny had spoken on Indian cloth.


Importance Today

crafts that have survived in present day India, the handloom


weaving

is, perhaps, the most important. It is the

cottage

industry

with more than 30.22

lakh

looms

throughout the length and breadth of the country.

largest
spread

Akurathi Venkateswara Rao, Handloom Industry in India - A


Study,New Delhi:Natlonal Cooperative Union of India,1973 ,p . 1
2
Annual
Report,
All
India Federation
Spinning Mills, Bombay: 1987, p.471.

of

Cooperative

Among the cottage industries,handloom weaving

occupies

a pride o place. In respect of employment, it is


that

14

million

industry.

They

constitute

people

are

directly

estimated

employed

in

this

together with their dependents, could

well

10 per cent of the country's

total

population"'

which could he equivalent to 40 per cent of all the

factory

workers

workers

in

employed

India and over two times

in the mill sector.

the

textile

It is further estimated

that

nearly two third of handloom weavers are in rural areas."


The
time

handloom weaving industry, besides

employment

means

to many weavers, is

also

offering.
the

full

subsidiary

of income to agriculturists. Blennet- Hassett

in

his

monograph on the cotton fabrics of the Central Provinces has


stated that spinning is still practised as a part-time among
the

well-to-do, or as a household duty.

people

belonging

to weavers'

families

A large number
are

also

of

employed

3
Binu S. Thomas,
'Textiles: Time to Grasp the Nuttle',
Business UorId,Bombay:Vol.VI,Mo.1, March 31-April 13,1986.
4
Government
of
India,
Report of the Sub
Group
on
Handlooms, New Delhi: Ministry of Commerce, Sept.1980, p.S3.
5
Reserve Bank of
India, All India Rural
Committee- The General Report, 19 5 5, p . 4 0.

Credit

Survey

6
Quoted by Sumit Guha, s The Handloom Industry of Central
India'
The Indian Economic and Social History Review, New
Delhi: Sage Publications India "(Pvt)Ltd., Vol. XXVI, No . 3 ,
July-September 1989, pp.297-318.

42

either
large

directly or indirectly. Further, atleast an


number

of citizens including yarn

merchants,

cloth

wholesalers,

retailers,

manufacturers,

dyers, twisters, warpers, sizers etc.,

their

cotton

equally

cultivators,

loom
earn

livelihood from this industry. Apart from these,

workers

in

employed

the spinning

mills

form

the

sizable

segment of the workforce, jUith

regard

to production of textiles,

the

handloom

industry is by no means small. Nearly 3639 million metres of


cloth

is

produced

by the

handloom

which

formed

production of

13,652

The capacity of this

sector

nearly 37 per cent of the total cloth


million metres during 1989-90.
to

sector

produce a large number of varieties with varied

designs

cannot be equalled by any other sector.


The handloom Industry is an important source of foreign
exchange
petroleum
the

also.

It

is the second largest

(after

products) contributor to the national

foreign

exchange earnings of this sector

oil

and

exchequer;
afliouftted

to

Rs.734.41 crore during the year 1989-90.


7%

India's Textile
Industry at a Glance - Statistics and
observation',Journal of Textile Association, Bombay: Vol.51,
No.5, January 1991, pp.183-186.
8
Loc.Cit.,"India's
Textile
Statistics and Observation'.

43

Industry

at

Glance

Further, the significance of handloom industry in India


can

also be appreciated, taking into account the

facts:

(i)

its erection cost is much

lower cost of production of cloth;


change

of

produced
needs

it;

little

which

(ii) it permits

colour combination and designs


on

overworked

lower,

following

in

the

(iii) its mechanism is rather

outside help for servicing

or

or damaged part; (lv) the capital

means

frequent
fabrics

simple

and

replacing

an

required

for

working it is so nominal that It can be independently worked


by a weaver in his own homestead with the assistance of
family

members;

(v) the capital required for investment

his
in

this sector is low, which is hardly one fifth of that of the


organised sector;
high

when

and (vi) the employment potential is very

compared

to

powerloom

and

mill

sectors.

It

accounted for 710 million man-days of employment in 1990-91.


History and Development of Handloom Industry
It
India

is an accepted fact that the handloom

has

attained

very

high

degree

of

industry

in

perfection

centuries before the 'machine' was invented to weave

cloth.

9
Eighth
Indian
Cooperative
Congress
(March
9-12,197 9)
Background paper , Textile Policy and the Cooperatives- Mew
Policy', New Delhi: National Cooperative Union of India,
1979, pp.1-25.
10
Government of India, VII I Plan Report of the Sub Group on
Handlooms, Hinistry of Textiles, New Delhi: Feb.1989, p.171.
44

Despite

its

glorious past, the

handloom

industry

passed

through many vicissitudes down the centuries. The history of


handloom
the

industry prior to

powerful

India,

India's independence

witnessed

influence of events such as British

rule

Swadeshi Movement, the depression of 1930s

world

and

wars. The handloom industry had to suffer on

in
the

account

of these factors which operated against its interests.


Tiie British exploitation through the East India company
and later through direct British rule in India,
weavers
than

feed

to sell cloths to the East India company

the

export

market

In

less

large

scale
to

the then newly growing mechanised textile industry

of

In the later period the Indian markets were flooded

English maehlne-rnade cloths by withdrawing

British
duties

on

surely
English

duties

machine made goods Imported into India and


India's cloth exports. By

discriminatory

"the

price. It also resulted

for

o India's cotton to Manchester and Launehashire

England.
with

Impelled the

pursuing

on

levying

such

other

fiscal and social policies which slowly

but

paralysed the hereditary hand-weaving Industry.

The

Governor General Bentinck reported in

misery

commerce,

hardly

finds

the bones of

parallel

cotton

45

In

weavers

the
are

1834,

thus:

history

of

bleaching

the

plains of India'.
The spinning and weaving mills established and promoted
in

India

since 1854 on a continuing basis thrived

at

the

cost of the handlooms. The handlooms began to depend heavily


on the mill spun yarn. During 1917 to 1920 (the first
war period)
themselves

handloom cloth production fell sharply as mills


were

requirements.
and

world

consuming more yarn to

meet

Many spinning mills installed

the

defence

weaving

converted themselves into composite mills

and

looms
started

competing the handloom cloth in Indian market.


The Swadeshi Movement in its early phase, did not
much

distinction between mill cloths and

handloom

make

cloths.

This movement in a way harmed the handloom industry as mills


started producing traditional varieties of cloth which
the
trade

preserve of handlooms for ages. Later in


depression

Artificial

also

paralysed

the

were

1929-30,

handloom

scarcity of raw materials created by

the

industry.
number

middlemen like mahajans, master weavers, yarn dealers

etc.,

and the resultant rise in the cost of raw materials had


only beaten but probably severely crippled handlooms.

of

not

12

11
Jawaharlal Nehru,
The Discovery of
Nehru Memorial Fund, New Delhi: Oxford
1982, p. 298.
12

Ibid., p. 299.

46

India,
Jawaharlal
University Press,

Jawaharlal Nehru in the Discovery of India,


the

plight

of Indian handloom industry thus:

summarised
"the

textile industry collapsed affecting vast number of


and artisans. The process was rapid In

Indian
weavers

Bengal and Bihar and

else where it spread gradually with the expansion of British


rule

and

the

building

railways.

It

throughout

the

nineteenth century breaking

up

industries also'.

up

of

continued
other

13

Cooperativisation of

Handloom Industry

The cooperative form of organisation is the


endeavour

economic

the

production

benefits.

motivated business,
and

collective

by a group of individuals to work and

themselves,

old

and

manage

distribution

by

for

common

It provides a substitute for the

profit

ensures equitable distribution of income

wealth, curbs monopolistic concentration

and

promotes

decentralisation In industrial sector and balanced

regional

development.
In a country like India where capital formation is low,
and
and

weavers suffer Inabilities due to poor


organisational

the

cooperative

organisation

is

problems

weavers. Further, coverage of

of

the

skills,

entrepreneurial

only suitable way

13
Ibid.,

p.

299

47

for

form

of

solving

the

more

and

more

weavers

by

answer

the cooperative associations would

to problems of unemployment, under

exploitation
secure

by

all

master

those

weavers. The

employment

weavers

advantages o scale

provide

of

and

could

also

production

competition.

Thus the importance of cooperative

decentralised

textile industry as an instrument

sector
of

an

and
In

socio-

economic and industrial development needs no emphasis.


Realising
cooperatives
first

significance

and

suitability

for handloom weaving in India,

in 1907.

visited

India

survival

The Royal Commission on

in

the year 1928 observed

of the village industries in the

competition,
a

14

Agriculture
that,
fast

it is essential that they are to be

cooperative

basis.'

15

The

of

Mr.F.D.Harvell

mooted the idea of forming weavers' cooperatives

back

on

the

Cooperative

'For

way
which
the

increasing
developed
Planning

1 A

Committee,

1945,

Government

of

The Industrial Policy Resolution of the


17
India,
1948,
The
Industrial
Policy

Government of Madras, Second Five Year Plan - Madras


State,
A Symposium:
The Director of
Information
and
Publicity, 1958, p.80.
15
Adopted
by
Rayudu, C.S.,
Economics
of
Textile
Cooperatives, Delhi: Discovery Publishing House, 1988, p.S.
Planning Commission, Second Five Year Plan Draft 1956-60,
Government of India, Vol.1, p.10.
17
Ibid., p.10.

48

Resolution
(Second

1956,

Plan)

The Village and Small

Committee,

Industries Committee,
the

Industrial

industrialisation
on

the

best

20

Cooperatives
in

19

and

Khadi

and

in

the

Industry
s

Study

(Shri.B.

exploitation

in
in

the cooperative
this

sector.

sector being vast

The
it

is the best answer to end

the

Team

and

India

can

scope

for

is

accepted that a cooperative getting together of the


themselves

Sivaraman

Handloom being a Village

Industry scattered over- the villages o

develop

Village

process

India. The High Power

1974 argued thus:

Industries

have all reiterated the role o

problems o Handloom

committee)
Cottage

1968

1955,

Scale

generally
weavers

exploitation.'

Study Group on the working of Reserve Bank of India

21

Schemes

for Handloom Finance (HATE committee), 1978 has endorsed the


view of the Sivaraman Committee.
1A

Development Commissioner, Small Industries-Twenty Years


of Progress of Small Scale Industries,New Delhi Ministry o
Cottage and Small Scale Industries, 197 3, p.16.
19
Government of
India, Report of the Village and Small
Scale Industries, Second Plan Committee, 19 55, p.89.
20
Planning
Commission,
Draft Second Five Year
Plan,
Government of India, p.221.
21
Quoted by Government of
India,
Review of Handlooms
Development Programmes 1978-79, New Delhi: Ministry
of
Industry, Development Commissioner for Handlooms, p.14.

49

The

New

Textile Policy, announced

India in June 1985

22

by

Government

laid great emphasis on the

of

development

of handlooms on cooperative lines. The Eighth Plan Sub Group


on

Handloom

unique
full

reiterated

that,

'in order

to

role of handlooms and enable them to


potential as also to

handloom

weavers,

cooperatives

the

preserve
realise

ensure higher- earnings

development

of

the
their

for

handlooms

the

through

and Central/State level corporations shall

be

m t e n s i f 1 ed .
Planned Development of Handloom Cooperatives
Although a real and serious effort was made in the year
1934-35

to

bring

cooperative

fold,

large

Government

reviewed
in

the

weavers

under

Uith the dawn of

adoption
in

into

the

the leadership of

of Industrial Policy

Jawaharlal

resolution

April 1948. The focus of the

and small scale industries was later

slow

independence,

the position of cottage industries which

parliament
cottage

of

the progress was comparatively very

during the pre-plan period.


the

number

Nehru

resulted
by

the

government

on

reflected

in

22
Quoted by Dwivedi, R. C,
Glimpses
of
Cooperat ivea
through Press - Textile Cooperatives, New Delhi: Cooperative
Times , 1987 , p.70.
23
Government of India,Eighth Plan Report of the Sub Group
on Handlooms, New Delhi: Ministry of Textiles,
Deputy
Commissioner for Handlooms, Feb. 1989, p. 7.
50

the Directive Principles of the Constitution o India


laid

down that,

"it is the responsibility of the

which

State

to

endeavour to promote cottage industries on cooperative basis


, 24
in rural areas.'
The

constitutional

policies

and

In

state

plans.

Since

direction was reflected

subsequently In the five

year

independence, through successive five year plans, a host

of

programmes

of

and

organisational

schemes
and

along

fiscal

with

various

interventions

kinds
have

been

implemented by Government in order to encourage and


the

handloom

development,

sector.
as

Allocations

made

provided in the central

for

plan,

through

cooperatives.

specialised

central

agencies and other regional

apex

federations ,

bodies
have

and
all

State

given

been

establishment

and

fillip

handloom
have

channalised

level

The

support

or

National
to

the

industrial cooperatives in general and textile

of
state
level

growth

of

cooperatives

in particular.
"Planning Commission, Draft Fourth Five Year Plan 1969-74,
Government of India, Vol.1, p.7.
*

The All India Handicrafts Board, The Silk Board, The All
India Handloom Board, The Small Scale Industries Board,
The
Khadi and Village Industries Commission, The Handicrafts and
Handloom Export Corporation of India, The Handloom Export
Promotion Council, The All India Handloom Fabrics Marketing
Cooperative Society,
Petroflls Cooperative Ltd., Ueavers
Service
Centres,
National
Cooperative
Development
Corporat ion.

First Five Year Plan (1951-56)


The

first

plan gave emphasis on the

organisation

cooperatives for- the handloom weavers, on the recommendation


o

the Fact Finding Committee 1945,and the Textile

Committee

1952, the All India Handloom Board was

Enquiry
setup

in

October 1952. The foremost task of the Handloom Board was to


organise
mostly

cooperatives on a massive scale for

the

weavers,

in the rural areas, following the spread of

cooperatives
period.
handloom

in urban and semi-urban areas in

weavers

the

earlier-

The main heads o development were organisation


industry in the cooperative sector,

of

provision

of

working capital for production and marketing, assistance for


niarketing

of

processing,

handloom cloth including


training, research and

direct

technical

subsidy,

improvements

and other- schemes.


In
Society
national

March
was

1955, All India


registered

scale

and

for

Handloom

undertaking

for establishment

of

Fabric

Marketing

marketing

on

warehouses

a
and

emporia in the principal cities. During the first plan a sum


of Rs . 11.07 crore was spent for the development of handloom
sector

and

cooperative
and

the

number

of

weavers

brought

Into

the

fold by 1954-55 was estimated at about 88

lakh

the number of looms included in Cooperatives

b i*

stood

at

10.26 lakh in 1955-56, which represented over 60 per cent of


the estimated total number of active looms in the country.

25

Second Five Year Plan (1956 - I960;


The
second

approach

for cooperativisation continued

plan also. The plan envisaged that: the

programme

for

the handloom industry

in

the

development

provides

mainly

measures for assistance to handlooma which are brought

for
into

the cooperative sector. Weavers in cooperative societies can


be given much greater assistance than those working on their
own.

It is proposed to increase the number of looms in

cooperative

fold from one million to 1.45

Loans

be advanced to weavers to enable them

will

cooperatives, and
The

the

million

working capital will also be

to

provided.

plan provided for an expenditure of Rs. ISO

crore

village and small scale Industries o which Rs. 25.48


was spent for development of handloom industry.

join

27

for
crore

At the end

of the Second Plan (1960-61)nearly 12.69 lakh handlooma were


25
Planning Commission,First Five Year Plan- Progress Report
for 19 54-55,Government of India, April 1956, p. 156.
26
Planning Commission,Second Five Year
PlanProgress
Report for 1958-59.Government of India, p. 106.
27
Government of India,India- A Ref erence Annual 1967, New
Delhi: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Publication
Division, May 1967, p. 314.

53

brought

under

cooperatives and the

percentage

of

active

looms came around 6 0.7.


Third Five Year Plan (1961-66)
The

plan

weavers,

the

laid stress mainly on fuller


priority for supply

of

employment

improved

appliances

including semi-automatic looms, provision of facilities


processing
purchase

of

increased
only

and training,
yarn

from

introduction of improved
cooperative

spinning

22.21 crore was spent

for

handloom

for

designs,

mills

and

export. Out of a total provision of Rs. 34

Rs .

of

crore

development

29
schemes
efforts,

during the plan period.


the

As a result of all

actual production of handloom

cloth

these
by

the

decentralised sector,which was 1930 million yards In 1960-61,


30
went upto 2250 million yards in 1962-63.
Three Annual Plans
The

principal

(1966-69)
aim of the handloom

programmes

during

these plans was to bring about further expansion of handloom


production through fuller employment of the handloom weavers
28
Planning Commission,
Second Five Year Plan Progress
Report 1958-59,op.elt. , p 107.
29
Government of India,India-A reference Annual 1967,op.cit,
p.314.
Planning Commission,
Third Plan
Report , Government of India, p. 113.

54

Mid-Term

Appraisal-

and

the

introduction

of

improved

techniques.

Loan

assistance on a more liberal scale was provided to


Further,

higher priority was accorded to the

improved

appliances and training,

weavers.
supply

Introduction of

improved

designs and purchase of yarn requirements increasingly


cooperative
revitalise
to

set

spinning

mills.

It

was

also

from

proposed

to

a number of weak cooperative societies and

up workshed as common weaving centres

of

on

also

pilot

basis mainly to meet export requirements.


On

account

of

the adoption o

various

measures

assist the handloom industry, including the reservation


it

of certain lines of production and special

encourage
in

cooperatives, substantial progress had been


rehabilitation of the industry. The share

for
to
made

of

this

sector in the total cloth production stood at 30.4 per

cent

in

the

measures

to

19 68.

increased

The

number of looms in

the

cooperative

from 1.32 million in 1960-61 to 1.41

sector

million

in

1966-67,and the number of power-looms from about 1.45 lakh to


2.17

lakh.

nearly
fabrics

The handloom industry

provided

employment

3 million weavers. The value of export

of

to

handloom

and products increased from Rs. 5 crore in 19 6 0

to

about Rs. 12.6 crore in 1965; but the same declined to about
31
Planning Commission, Third
Government of India, p. 439.
55

Five

Year

Plan,

1966-69,

Rs .

8.2

crore

in 1968 owing mainly to

shrinkage

in

the

32
demand for 'Bleeding Madras Kerchiefs'.'
Fourth Five Year Plan (1969-74)
The Principal objective of the Fourth P.Ian was that the
proportion

of cotton handloome in the cooperative fold

was

to be increased from 40 per cent at the commencement of

the

plan to atleaat 50 per cent by the end. Steps were taken

to

promote the handloom cooperatives which include: meeting the


working

capital need of handloom cooperatives by the

Cooperative

State

Banks, arranging regular supply of yarn of

the

counts needed by the societies and also other essential

raw

materials

at

Improved

equipments

effectively
varieties
handloom

reasonable

rates, training the

and

appliances,

restrictions
of

on

weavers

enforcing

production

of

concentrating

on

production

more

specified

cloths already reserved exclusively

sector,

in

for
of

the
those

varieties of cloth which provide higher earnings and setting


up

of common service facilities/centres for improvement

of

qua] i t.y.
However,
fully

most

achieved

of these measures could not

largely

due

to

the

rapid

have
growth

been
of

32
Planning Commission, Fourth Five Year Plan- Report
74, Government of India, Vol.11, p. 285.

56

1969-

u n a u t h o r i s e d powerlooraa,
facilities,
weavers'
Fifth

high

shortage of yarn,

inadequate credit

p e r c e n t a g e o f dormancy among t h e

s o c i e t i e s and m a r k e t i n g di f f i c u l t . i era .

F i v e Year

Plan

hand.loom

V-i

(1974-1979)

The Government t o o k m e a s u r e s t o r e v i t a l i s e t h e
societies* in potential

areas.

dormant

E f f o r t s were t a k e n t o i n c r e a s e

t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f hank y a r n a s t h e Government r e c o g n i s e d t h e
fact

t h a t a d e q u a t e and t i m e l y smppiy o f y a r n at.

prices

is

unhindered
policy

basic

requirement

development

and

necessity

o f t h e handloom

for

sector.

effective

Development

of

Projects.

during the plan period


Because

of

India

have

A sum of Rs.

additional

For r e h a b i l i t a t i o n and

d e v e l o p m e n t o f handlooma o u t s i d e t h e

Government

the

Licensing

was a l s o drawnup w i t h a view t o c r e a t i n g

s p i n d l e a g e c a p a c i t y for t h i s purpose.

fold,

reasonable

cooperative

sanctioned
55.32 c r o r e

Intensive
was

spent

that,

were

f o r handloom d e v e l o p m e n t . "

p a c k a g e of s u p p o r t

programmes

i m p l e m e n t e d f o l l o w i n g t h e r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s of a s t u d y team in
1973

(Shri

B.Slvaraman)

during the

plan, the

employment

33
P l a n n i n g Commission, D r a f t Fi f t h F i v e Year P l a n
1911-7 9,
Government of India, Vol.11, p. 161.
34
Government of India, India- A Reference Annual 19 79, New
Delhi: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Publication
Division, 19 79, p. 315.

57

coverage

Increased

from

52. 1 lakh persons

to

61.5

lakh

persons and exports (excluding aiIk goods) from Rs . 7 7 crore


to Rs . 263 crore. By March 1980, of the 30.21 lakh handXooraa
in the country,
cooperative
at

13.17 lakh looms had been brought within the

fold. Hut. the effective coverage was

estimated

about 9.4 lakh or 31 per cent as against the Fifth

target

of

finance

60 per cent. Under the RBI scheme


for

marketing,

weavers"

an

cooperatives

amount.

for

of Rs . 58 crore

for

handloom

production

was

Plan

sanctioned

and
in

1979-80. Besides, 25 Intensive Handloom Development Projects


with

coverage of about. 10,000 looms and

new

weavers

35

.service centres were set up.'

Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-85)


The

Sixth

development
under
of

of

Plan

gave a

detailed

handloom industry.

direction

The

measures

for

envisaged

this plan Included among others,bringing 6 0 per

the handlootns under the effective cooperative

assistance

through

the

National

Cooperative

the

cent

coverage,
Development

Corporation for setting up of new cooperative spinning mills


and

expansion of the existing ones, managerial

subsidy

to

nav and potentially viable cooperative societies on tapering


35
Planning Commission,
Sixth Five
Government of India, Vol.11, p. 197.

58

Year

Plan

1980-85,

basis

in

selected

organise

themselves

societies

and

areas, assisting
into industrial

assistance to

Marketing Cooperative Society.


During
handloom
sector
weavers

weavers

type

cooperative

India

of

Handloom

to

Fabrics

36

the plan period, Rs . 120 crore were

development
was

All

loomless

and production

37
fixed at Rs.370 crore.'

target

for

About 16 to

spent

for

handloom
17

lakh

have been brought under cooperatives. Although

the

gross coverage was about 60 per cent, the effective coverage


of looms in the cooperative fold was around 32 per cent,

as

many societies had become dormant. Equity capital assistance


to

apex societies has also been increased from Rs. 85

in

1976-77 to Rs.

scheme

of

356.60 lakh in 1983-84. 3 S Under

handloom finance operated by the

the

lakh
RBI

NABARD,

short

term credit limits sanctioned had gone up from Rs. 51

crore

in 1978-79 to Rs.232.76 crore during 1984-85. 3 9


Ibid., p. 190.
37
Government of India, India- A Reference Annual 1980 , New
Delhi: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Publication
Division, May 1980, p. 336.
Planning Commission,
Seventh Five
Government of India, Vol.11, p. 103.
39

I b i d . , p. 103.

59

Year

Plan

19 85-90,

Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-90)


Emphasis was laid on cooperativisation and
of

handloom

modernisation

through
of

centra]/state

looms

and

level

provision

development
corporations,

of

technological

inputs. Further, ensuring adequate availability of yarn

and

other raw materials, increasing the production of mixed

and

blended

fabrics on handlooms, providing design

improve

the

marketing
data

competitiveness

of

the

support

product,

improving

and infrastructure support and strengthening

base

were the other measures

to

the

contemplated.

Handloom

(Reservation of Articles for Production) Act 1983,

has also

been

enhanced

enforced. Spindleage capacity have also been

In cooperative sector to the extent possible.


An

outlay of Rs.

development.
of

by

impressive
fact

cloth has been transferred to

the

end of the Seventh Plan.

performance

remains

cooperative

for

The responsibility for the entire

controlled

sector

168 crore was provided

that
sector

that, the effective

the

In

of

active

was considerably low.


coverage

40
Ibid., p.100.

60

would

be

It

not

production

the

handloom

spite

recorded so far in this


number

handloom

field, the

looms
is
more

of the

in

the

estimated
than

32

per cent of the total looms in the country.

Eighth Five Year Plan (1990-1995)


A Sub Group was set up in December 1988 to formulate an
approach

for the development of the handloorn sector

during

the

VIII Plan. Since the Sub Group was not

the

performance of cooperatives, it suggested a 'change

strategies'
Intervention

satisfied

and called for a broad-based approach of


for

weavers.

The

approach

was

with
in

State

stated

as

, ,,
42
follows:
If State support is to quickly reach a larger segment
of handloorn weavers, it should be aimed at the sector
in general
Instead of waiting for weavers to come
within the cooperative or corporate fold.
Government
intervention in the handloorn sector has all along been
confined to the corporate, cooperative sector leaving
the private sector mostly unsupported.
More direct
intervention is therefore, necessary to supplement the
indirect support that devolves upon private
sector
weavers from state aided schemes.
The
growth
million

Sub Group recommended an average 5 per cent


for

handloorn sector and production target

metres for the year 1994-95, of which 2320

metres for production in cooperative sector.

annual
of

5750

million

An outlay

of

Development Commissioner
for Handlooms,
Eighth
Plan
Report of the Sub Group on Handlooms 1989,Government
of
India, Feb. 1989,p.9.
42 T < . ,
Ibid. , p.31 .
43

Ibid., p.220.

61

Rs . 7 60

crora

is envisaged for handloom development in

the

VIII Plan central budget.


Handloom

Weavers' Cooperatives in Tamllnadu

The Handloom industry is of particular significance

to

Tamllnadu which leads all the other states in the production


of

handloom

cloths

and possesses the

highest

number

of

looms. It. is a vital sector in the state economy, next

only

to

lakh

agriculture.

weavers

It provides employment to

about

15

directly and livelihood to about 30 lakh people

in

Tamllnadu. There are 4.27 lakh handlooms in the state out of


which
fold.

?, . 58
45

In

lakh have been brought


terms

of

production

under
of

the

cooperative

cloth, Tamllnadu's

contribution is about 500.04 million metres out of the total


production
country

of 3948 million metres of handloom cloth in

during

1987-88.

46

Thus,

the

handloom

the

industry

occupies a very Important place in the economy of Tamllnadu.


44
Ibid., p.37.
45
Government of Tamllnadu, Handlooms and Textiles-Policy
and Programmes 1990-91, Madras: Handlooms, Handicrafts,
Textiles and Khadi Department, p.2.
46
Government of India,Eight Plan - Report of the Sub Group
on Handlooms, Op.cit., pp. 17 2-7 3.

62

Development Prior to Independence


The first weavers' society in India was started in 1905
at

Kanjeevaram

society,

in

worked

Tamilnadu. This was

for

sometime but

went

"service
into

liquidation

during 1919-20 owing to the severe crisis it passed


during the war.

47

type'

through

Then a few similar societies were started.

During 1927-28 there were 63 societies and most of them

did

not. work properly and the disposal of finished products

had

always been a problem.


Even
concrete
Industrial

prior
measures

to

48

the

country's

independence,

were taken. The recommendations

Commission 1916-18, the appointment

of

few

of

the

Textile

Expert by the Madras Government in 1919, the opening of

the

Textile Institute at Madras in 1922, the Textiles Conference


in

1928

and the organisation of

the

Provincial

Weavers'

Cooperative Society at Madras (the Cooptex)ln 1935 and


other

measures of the then Government, brought

an

such

amazing

growth between 1941 and 19 55 in the handloom industry in the


State.

49

Despite

this, yarn rationing based on

number

of

47
Government
of
India,
Report. of
the Fact
Committee (Handloom & Mills), 1942, p.180.
48
Baliga,
B.S..History of Handloom Industry in
Madras: Government of Madras, 1960, p.15.
49
Ibid., pp. 1-5.

63

Findina
Madras,

looms resulted in the artificial


looms.

inflation in the number

of

50

Development After
In

consonance with the policies and programmes of

Central
Madras

Independence

Government,

Government

of

Tamilnadu

the

( the

then

state) took keen interest In the development of

the

handloom industry and in the promotion of the socio-economic


condition
extended
through
the

of
to

weavers.
stabilise

Government
and develop

assistance
the

has

industry,

been
mostly

cooperatives. Several schemes were implemented

development

of

the industry, as

result

of

for
which

weavers' cooperatives made a substantial progress. There had


been a manifold increase in every aspect of their operation,
over

the

years right from 1954-55 in

Tamilnadu (See table

3.01).

Organisational Machinery of the Government


The

Directorate of Handlooms and Textiles was

created

for planning, organising and implementing various programmes


for

promotion

and

development

of

handloom

industry

Tamilnadu. The Directorate has also been functioning as


'State Textile Authority'

and

as

such,

has

the

in
the

overall

50
Madras University, A Survey of Handloom Industry
Madras State,1959,Government of Tamilnadu, p.139.
64

in

65

responsibility

for initiating measures

wherever

necessary

for the successful functioning of the textile mills and

the

power loom

the

industry,

apart from the handloom sector in

at at e.
The

Director of Handlooms and Textiles is the head

of

the organisation assisted at the State and District level by


administrative

and technical officers who are

implementation

of

the

various

incharge

handloom

of

development

programmes.
The
which

is under the administrative control of

Director
of

entire state is divided into 12 circles


an

and

Textiles

is

assisted

by

of

Assistant

of Handlooms and Textiles. The Assistant

Handlooms

each

Director

subordinate

administrative and technical staff.

Development Programmes of the Government


With

the

twin

objective

of

providing

continuous

employment and an assured income to the handloom weavers


the

state,

the

implementing

many

Government
handloom

of

Tamllnadu

development

have

programmes.

programmes formulated and implemented by the

Government

in
been
The
of

The Headquarters of the circles are at


Kanjeevaram,
Tiruchirapalli, Salem, Tiruchengodu, Erode,
Coimbatore,
Madurai, Virudhunagar, Mana Madurai, Tirunelveli, Vellore
and Chidambaram.

66

Tamilnadu, in collaboration with central Government, NABARD,


MCDC

and other national level agencies may be grouped

three

categories, catering

the

dimensions

of

measures

concerning

the

of

structural

soundness

cooperative

sector; (ii), measures relating to schemes


for

and

(i)

three

development

programmes

this sector:

to

into

viability

of

the

the promotion of business

handlooro
and

efficiency;

and

(ili) the measures concerning the welfare of the weaver

and

his family.

Measures Concerning the Structural Soundness and Viability


Cooperativisation
more

looms

of Handlooms. For bringing more

into the cooperative fold,

handloom

admitted

as a member of a weavers' cooperative

provided

subject

loan towards payment of initial

and

weaver

society

share

is

capital

to a maximum of Rs.200 per loom for cotton,

Ra.35Q

for

silk and woo]en and Rs.lOOO for polyester looms.Out

of

the

said amount 90 per cent is being equally shared by

the

Central

and

State government. Out of 4.27

functioning in the state,


under

the

lakh

handlooina

2.85 lakh looms have been

cooperative fold,

forming 66 per cent

against the national target of 60 per cent.

of

brought
looms

51

51
Government of Tarnilnadu, Handloom
Programme, 1990-91, op.cit., p.l.
67

and

Textile

Pol icy

The target for 1989-90 was to bring 15,000 weavers into


the cooperative fold and against this target, 39,000 weavers
have

been

have

sanctioned a sum of Rs.50 lakh as state

and

admitted. For the year 1989-90,

Rs.15

lakh

as

share

capital

under

the

government

participation

the

scheme

of

cooperativisation.

Industrial

Weavers'

Cooperative Societies.

The

1987

handloom census revealed that 27.36 per cent of weavers were


loomless
would

which would mean that more than one

have

providing
Heavers'

to

be provided with looms.

un-interrupted

employment

lakh

Uith

to

the

them,

Cooperative Societies are being

weavers
aim

of

Industrial

organised.

There

are at present 189 Industrial Weavers' Cooperative Societies


in

the

State.

exclusively

Out

of these,

29

societies

are

for Adi-Dravidara and 10 societies

set

up

exclusively

for women handloom weavers."

Concessional

Credit

Flow

to

Handloom

Weavers'

Cooperative Societies. With a view to increasing the flow of


working
being

capital
provided

to this sector, refinance

facilities

by NABARD at 2.5 0 per cent below

52
Ibid. , p . 2 .
53
Ibid., p.3.

68

the

are
bank

rate.

Interest

State

subsidy of 3 per cent is

Government

to

the financing

provided

banks

in

by

respect

the
of

finances provided to handloorn weavers' cooperative societies


for production purpose and 1 per cent subaidy for
finance

in respect of

Government

the Cooptex.

On

this

marketine

account

the

sanctioned to the Central Cooperative Banks

and

Tamilnadu State Cooperative Bank interest subsidy of


lakh.

Rs.150

54

Cooperative

Spinning

mill. During the

year

1975,

Tamilnadu Government evolved a system for regular supply


hank

yarn

to the handloorn weavers

under

the

of

cooperative

fold. At present, there are 18 Cooperative Spinning Mills in


Tamilnadu

with 4.5 9 lakh installed spindles with

force

12,225.

of

All

these

Cooperative

labour

Spinning

Mills

produce about 16,000 bales (both hank and cone) of yarn


month

ranging from 10 to 100 counts.

requirement

55

They meet

of the weavers within the cooperative

the state, at the concessional rate,

55
Ibid., pp.18-19.

69

yarn

fold

in

periodically fixed

by

the Director of Handlooms and Textiles.


Ibid., p.4.

the

per

The

Tamilnadu

Zari Limited. The main

object

of

the

company is to manufacture and supply quality zari (real gold


thread) to the Silk Handloom Weavers' Cooperative
at

Societies

reasonable price. The Government have so far invested

paid

up

During

share
1989-90,

capital of Rs.13.20 lakh

in

13,318 marks of zari have

the

been

company.
produced

and steps are being taken to produce also the essential

56

raw

materials, namely, silver wire.

Textile Processing Mills Ltd. With a view to

providing

dyeing and processing facilities for yarn and cloth produced


by

the Handloom Weavers'

sector

handlooms,

Processing,

Cooperative societies and

the

Tamilnadu

Cooperative

private
Textiles

Mills was started during the year 1973. This

Is

the only processing mills under the cooperative sector.

Input Supply.
need

1.87

Cooperative

lakh

In Tamilnadu 4.27 lakh handlooms annually


bales

of

hank

yarn.

1,677

Weavers'

Societies are supplied with about 80,000

of hank yarn by the Cooperative Spinning Mills per

bales

annum. 5 7

For the weavers under cooperative fold, yarn supply is


through

Cooptex

at

the concessional

rate

fixed

by

56
Ibid., p.13.
57
Ibid., p.5.

70

made
the

Director of Handlooms and Textiles every month or


to the need,
rates.

according

taking into consideration the prevailing market

Besides,

yarn

is supplied on a

monthly

basis

to

Cooperative Intensive Development Projects and to the extent


possible to the Master Ueavers' Association through National
Handloom Development Corporation, at concessional
Power-loom Ueavers'
have

rates.The

Cooperative Societies/Powerloom complexes

also been provided with the corn yarn at

concessional

rates for the production of Janatha varieties.

Schemes

and

Programmes

for

the

Promotion

of

Business

Efficiency

Intensive
Projects.
and

Handloom

Development / Export

Production

To increase the earnings of the handloom

weavers

to alleviate their poverty, the Government have set

up

four Cooperative Intensive Handloom Development Projects

at

Kanjeevaram,
Production

Erode,
Projects

Salem
at

Karur

essential

infrastructural

handloom

cloth.

training
production

to

and

Madurai
and

of

for
looms

the weaver members in the


are

two

Kurinjipadl

facilities

Modernization

and

with

all

production

of

and

modern

providing
methods

the basic programmes implemented

projects.

71

Export

by

of

these

Modernisation of Handlooms.To increase the productivity


of

looms, quality of fabrics and with a view to

increasing

the

earnings of the weavers,

have been implementing a scheme of


of

looms

State

Government

modernisation/renovation

in the cooperative fold since 1980-81.

modernization
and

ultimately

assistance is in the form of two

The

loom

third

loan

one third grant. The loan and subsidy amount

sanctioned

to

/Industrial

the Primary Weavers'

is

Cooperative

Weavers' Cooperative Societies. So

Societies
far

looms have been benefited under this scheme. During


it

being

47,038
1990-91

is proposed to expend Rs.1.50 crore on modernisation

of

looms.

Janatha Cloth Scheme.During the year 1989-90,


Ueavers'

Cooperative

Societies

with

50,000

about 600

looms

engaged

in the production of the Janatha Cloth

scheme,

for

were

under

free distribution of saree and dhothy

this

by

the

State Government to 75 lakh families with monthly income

of

R&.300

to

the

and less. During the year 1989-90, Janatha cloth

extent

of

83

million

sq.mtrs., were

produced

distributed. On account of higher production, employment


provided to the weavers continuously. It is expected that
subsidy

of about Rs.17.88 crore will be received

58
Ibid., p.6.
72

from

and
Is
a
the

Government of India against the production of Janatha

cloth

during 1990-91. 5 9

Market
The

Development Assistance Scheme (Rebate

Scheme).

Government of Tamilnadu have sanctioned a total sum

of

Rs. 3,347. 20 lakh in full settlement of the rebate claims

of

the

Primary

Heavers' Cooperative Societies upto

the

year

1988-89 and Rs.176.60 lakh in full settlement of the State's


share in respect of the claims preferred by the Cooptex upto
the

period

1988-89.

The total

expenditure

under

rebate

subsidy was Rs.60.74 crore during 1989-90. 6

State

Prize Avard Scheme. With a view

to

encouraging

the export trade in handloom goods and to widen their market


in

foreign

countries for the handloom

Tamilnadu,

the

implementing
award

of

handloom

this

prizes
fabrics,

Government

of

goods

Tamilnadu

scheme from 1st January


to

the top

three

1975.

cotton

ready made garments is being given every year.

Ibid.,p.8.

Ibid. , p.10 .

73

have

exporters

silk handloom fabrics,

59

produced

A
in

in
been

state
cotton

handloom

Measures Concerning the Welfare o

The

Weaver and his Family

Government of Tamilnadu have

implemented

welfare

schemes

for weavers such as Savings and

Security

Central

Thrift Fund Scheme,House-cum-Workshed Scheme,

free

supply of uniforms to school children of standard I to

VIII

Schemes,

and Weavers Welfare Government Trust.


Under

the

Cooperative Handlooni

Weavers

Security Scheme, a weaver joining the scheme


paise

for

every rupee of wages earned and

contribute
given

Savings

and

contributes
the

paise. The accumulations under

government

the

seven per cent interest per annum by the

fund

is

government.

The entire accumulations under the fund will be paid to

the

weaver-

(55

member

on attaining the age of

superannuation

years). The present coverage of handlooni weavers under

this

scheme is 1.48 lakhs.


The
Handlooni
weavers

centrally

sponsored

'Thrift

Fund

Scheme

for

Weavers' provides some additional benefits to

the

already covered by the Tamilnadu Handlooni

weavers'

Savings and Security Scheme. Under the scheme, the

matching

contribution

of

the

Central Government is

subject

ceiling of 3 paise per rupee of wages earned by each

to

weaver

and limited to Rs.90 per weaver per annum. The assistance is


Ibid., p.16.

74

in

the form o grant to the State Government and a

sum

of

Rs. 66.10 lakh have been sanctioned for the year 1989-90.
The
loan

Weavers' Housing Scheme is being implemented

assistance

from

Housing

and

Urban

with

Development

Corporation and subsidy from the Government. The total


of

'

House-cuxn-Uorkshed works out to Rs.15,000 per

unit,

cost
of

which RS.5000 Is subsidy of the Government and the remaining


is the loan assistance of the HUDCO. More than 10,000 Housecum Worksheds and 44 weavers colonies have been

constructed

till the year 1989-90. 6 3


The scheme of free supply of uniform to school children
in

standard

I to VIII was introduced in 1985-86

twin objective

with

the

of helping the poor children to get one

set

of uniform every year and providing employment to a

section

of

weavers

hand loom weavers, power-loom weavers and

and
80

thereby

get additional wages.

nearly

worth of uniform have been supplied during

1989-90. 6 4

Ibid., p.16.
63

Under this scheme nearly

lakh school children are benefited and

erore

khadi

Ibid. , p.17.
Ibid. , p.18 .

75

Rs.13.68
the

year

Apart from these, Ueavers Uelfat-e Government Trust

was

formed during 1986 on the eve of Golden Jubilee Celebrations


of

the Cooptex with the objectives of

providing

financial

assistance to the wards of poor weaver members for


higher

studies

chartered
have
and

like

medical,

engineering,

persuing

agriculture,

accountancy etc. Under this scheme,

scholarships

been awarded to 23 students to the tune of

Re.51,000,

as on date, a sum of Rs.10.7 2 lakh is available to

credit of Ueavers Welfare Trust.

the

65

Thus far the historical development, policy perspective


and technical, administration, financial and welfare support
provided
explained
these

by

the Central and State

Governments

at length. There is no denying the fact that

measures

will be of no avail,

unless

cooperatives strengthen the marketing front.


65

have

Ibid., p.18.

76

the

been
all

handloom

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