Professional Documents
Culture Documents
HANDLOOM WEAVING
INDUSTRY- AN OVERVIEW
hand
texts
contain
handloom.
umpteen
Indian
references to the
glory
Ormi
handloom
and
industry
the
There
that
days
Herodotus
of
like
of
of
the
are
many
in
those
and
West.
was
Tavernier,
glory
instances
was
that
accounts
religious
Magasthanese
and
and
cottage
industry
lakh
looms
largest
spread
of
Cooperative
occupies
14
million
industry.
They
constitute
people
are
directly
estimated
employed
in
this
well
total
population"'
factory
workers
workers
in
employed
the
textile
It is further estimated
that
employment
means
to many weavers, is
also
offering.
the
full
subsidiary
in
his
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
merchants,
cloth
wholesalers,
retailers,
manufacturers,
their
cotton
equally
cultivators,
loom
earn
workers
in
employed
the spinning
mills
form
the
sizable
regard
to production of textiles,
the
handloom
is
produced
by the
handloom
which
formed
production of
13,652
sector
sector
designs
also.
It
(after
foreign
oil
and
exchequer;
afliouftted
to
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
facts:
(i)
of
produced
needs
it;
little
which
(ii) it permits
overworked
lower,
following
in
the
or
means
frequent
fabrics
simple
and
replacing
an
required
for
members;
his
in
when
compared
to
powerloom
and
mill
sectors.
It
has
attained
very
high
degree
of
industry
in
perfection
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
handloom
industry
passed
industry prior to
powerful
India,
India's independence
witnessed
rule
world
and
in
the
account
feed
the
export
market
In
less
large
scale
to
of
British
duties
on
surely
English
duties
discriminatory
"the
for
England.
with
Impelled the
pursuing
on
levying
such
other
but
The
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
at
the
requirements.
and
world
meet
the
defence
weaving
and
looms
started
handloom
make
cloths.
Artificial
also
paralysed
the
were
1929-30,
handloom
the
industry.
number
etc.,
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,
plight
summarised
"the
Indian
weavers
and
the
building
railways.
It
throughout
the
up
industries also'.
up
of
continued
other
13
Cooperativisation of
Handloom Industry
economic
the
production
benefits.
motivated business,
and
collective
themselves,
old
and
manage
distribution
by
for
common
profit
and
promotes
regional
development.
In a country like India where capital formation is low,
and
and
the
cooperative
organisation
is
problems
of
the
skills,
entrepreneurial
13
Ibid.,
p.
299
47
for
form
of
solving
the
more
and
more
weavers
by
answer
exploitation
secure
by
all
master
those
weavers. The
employment
weavers
advantages o scale
provide
of
and
could
also
production
competition.
decentralised
sector
of
an
and
In
socio-
significance
and
suitability
in 1907.
visited
India
survival
in
competition,
a
14
Agriculture
that,
fast
cooperative
basis.'
15
The
of
Mr.F.D.Harvell
back
on
the
Cooperative
'For
way
which
the
increasing
developed
Planning
1 A
Committee,
1945,
Government
of
48
Resolution
(Second
1956,
Plan)
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.
The
it
the
Team
and
India
can
scope
for
is
Sivaraman
develop
Village
process
Industries
problems o Handloom
committee)
Cottage
1968
1955,
Scale
generally
weavers
exploitation.'
21
Schemes
49
The
New
22
by
Government
of
development
Handloom
unique
full
reiterated
that,
'in order
to
handloom
weavers,
cooperatives
the
preserve
realise
development
of
the
their
for
handlooms
the
through
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
adoption
in
into
the
the leadership of
of Industrial Policy
Jawaharlal
resolution
slow
independence,
parliament
cottage
of
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
down that,
which
State
to
constitutional
policies
and
In
state
plans.
Since
year
of
programmes
of
and
organisational
schemes
and
along
fiscal
with
various
interventions
kinds
have
been
handloom
development,
sector.
as
Allocations
made
for
plan,
through
cooperatives.
specialised
central
apex
federations ,
bodies
have
and
all
State
given
been
establishment
and
fillip
handloom
have
channalised
level
The
support
or
National
to
the
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
organisation
Committee
Enquiry
setup
in
the
weavers,
cooperatives
period.
handloom
weavers
the
earlier-
of
provision
of
of
processing,
direct
technical
subsidy,
improvements
March
was
scale
and
for
Handloom
undertaking
for establishment
of
Fabric
Marketing
marketing
on
warehouses
a
and
and
cooperative
and
the
number
of
weavers
brought
Into
the
lakh
b i*
stood
at
25
approach
programme
for
in
the
development
provides
mainly
for
into
cooperative
Loans
will
cooperatives, and
The
the
million
to
provided.
crore
join
27
for
crore
At the end
53
brought
under
percentage
of
active
plan
weavers,
the
of
employment
improved
appliances
of
increased
only
and training,
yarn
from
introduction of improved
cooperative
spinning
for
handloom
for
designs,
mills
and
Rs .
of
crore
development
29
schemes
efforts,
As a result of all
cloth
these
by
the
principal
(1966-69)
aim of the handloom
programmes
during
54
Mid-Term
Appraisal-
and
the
introduction
of
improved
techniques.
Loan
improved
weavers.
supply
Introduction of
improved
set
spinning
mills.
It
was
also
from
proposed
to
of
on
also
pilot
account
of
the adoption o
various
measures
encourage
in
for
to
made
of
this
cent
in
the
measures
to
19 68.
increased
The
number of looms in
the
cooperative
sector
million
in
lakh.
nearly
fabrics
provided
employment
of
to
handloom
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
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
was
the
to
Cooperative
State
the
raw
materials
at
Improved
equipments
effectively
varieties
handloom
reasonable
and
appliances,
restrictions
of
on
weavers
enforcing
production
of
concentrating
on
production
more
specified
sector,
in
for
of
the
those
of
qua] i t.y.
However,
fully
most
achieved
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
prices
is
unhindered
policy
basic
requirement
development
and
necessity
o f t h e handloom
for
sector.
effective
Development
of
Projects.
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
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
to
61.5
lakh
estimated
target
of
finance
marketing,
weavers"
an
cooperatives
amount.
for
of Rs . 58 crore
for
handloom
production
was
Plan
sanctioned
and
in
new
weavers
35
Sixth
development
under
of
of
Plan
gave a
detailed
handloom industry.
direction
The
measures
for
envisaged
assistance
through
the
National
Cooperative
the
cent
coverage,
Development
subsidy
to
58
Year
Plan
1980-85,
basis
in
selected
organise
themselves
societies
and
areas, assisting
into industrial
assistance to
weavers
type
cooperative
India
of
Handloom
to
Fabrics
36
development
was
All
loomless
and production
37
fixed at Rs.370 crore.'
target
for
About 16 to
spent
for
handloom
17
lakh
the
as
in
1976-77 to Rs.
scheme
of
the
lakh
RBI
NABARD,
short
crore
I b i d . , p. 103.
59
Year
Plan
19 85-90,
handloom
modernisation
through
of
centra]/state
looms
and
level
provision
development
corporations,
of
technological
and
and
blended
improve
the
marketing
data
competitiveness
of
the
support
product,
improving
base
to
the
contemplated.
Handloom
has also
been
enhanced
outlay of Rs.
development.
of
by
impressive
fact
the
performance
remains
cooperative
for
controlled
sector
that
sector
the
In
of
active
40
Ibid., p.100.
60
would
be
It
not
production
the
handloom
spite
handloom
field, the
looms
is
more
of the
in
the
estimated
than
32
during
the
the
strategies'
Intervention
satisfied
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
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
the
to
handloom
cloths
highest
number
of
only
to
lakh
agriculture.
weavers
It provides employment to
about
15
in
?, . 58
45
In
of
production
under
of
the
cooperative
cloth, Tamllnadu's
during
1987-88.
46
Thus,
the
handloom
the
industry
62
Kanjeevaram
society,
in
worked
for
sometime but
went
"service
into
liquidation
47
type'
through
did
had
prior
measures
to
48
the
country's
independence,
of
few
of
the
Textile
the
1928
the
Provincial
Weavers'
an
such
amazing
49
Despite
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,
of
50
Development After
In
Central
Madras
Independence
Government,
Government
of
Tamilnadu
the
( the
then
the
of
to
weavers.
stabilise
Government
and develop
assistance
the
has
industry,
been
mostly
development
of
the industry, as
result
of
for
which
the
3.01).
created
promotion
and
development
of
handloom
industry
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
wherever
necessary
the
power loom
the
industry,
at at e.
The
of
implementation
of
the
various
incharge
handloom
of
development
programmes.
The
which
Director
of
and
Textiles
is
assisted
by
of
Assistant
Handlooms
each
Director
subordinate
the
twin
objective
of
providing
continuous
state,
the
implementing
many
Government
handloom
of
Tamllnadu
development
have
programmes.
Government
in
been
The
of
66
three
categories, catering
the
dimensions
of
measures
concerning
the
of
structural
soundness
cooperative
and
(i)
three
development
programmes
this sector:
to
into
viability
of
the
handlooro
and
efficiency;
and
and
his family.
looms
handloom
admitted
provided
subject
and
weaver
society
share
is
capital
Ra.35Q
for
of
the
the
Central
and
the
lakh
handlooina
cooperative fold,
of
brought
looms
51
51
Government of Tarnilnadu, Handloom
Programme, 1990-91, op.cit., p.l.
67
and
Textile
Pol icy
been
have
and
Rs.15
lakh
as
share
capital
under
the
government
participation
the
scheme
of
cooperativisation.
Industrial
Weavers'
Cooperative Societies.
The
1987
have
providing
Heavers'
to
un-interrupted
employment
lakh
Uith
to
the
them,
weavers
aim
of
Industrial
organised.
There
the
State.
exclusively
Out
of these,
29
societies
are
set
up
exclusively
Concessional
Credit
Flow
to
Handloom
Weavers'
capital
provided
facilities
52
Ibid. , p . 2 .
53
Ibid., p.3.
68
the
are
bank
rate.
Interest
State
Government
to
the financing
provided
banks
in
by
respect
the
of
in respect of
Government
the Cooptex.
On
this
marketine
account
the
and
Rs.150
54
Cooperative
Spinning
year
1975,
yarn
under
the
of
cooperative
force
12,225.
of
All
these
Cooperative
labour
Spinning
Mills
requirement
55
They meet
55
Ibid., pp.18-19.
69
yarn
fold
in
periodically fixed
by
the
per
The
Tamilnadu
object
of
the
Societies
paid
up
During
share
1989-90,
in
the
been
company.
produced
56
raw
providing
sector
handlooms,
Processing,
the
Tamilnadu
Cooperative
private
Textiles
Is
Input Supply.
need
1.87
Cooperative
lakh
of
hank
yarn.
1,677
Weavers'
bales
annum. 5 7
Cooptex
at
the concessional
rate
fixed
by
56
Ibid., p.13.
57
Ibid., p.5.
70
made
the
according
Besides,
yarn
is supplied on a
monthly
basis
to
rates.The
concessional
Schemes
and
Programmes
for
the
Promotion
of
Business
Efficiency
Intensive
Projects.
and
Handloom
Development / Export
Production
weavers
up
at
Kanjeevaram,
Production
Erode,
Projects
Salem
at
Karur
essential
infrastructural
handloom
cloth.
training
production
to
and
Madurai
and
of
for
looms
two
Kurinjipadl
facilities
Modernization
and
with
all
production
of
and
modern
providing
methods
projects.
71
Export
by
of
these
increasing
the
looms
State
Government
modernisation/renovation
modernization
and
ultimately
The
loom
third
loan
sanctioned
to
/Industrial
is
Cooperative
Societies
far
being
47,038
1990-91
of
looms.
Cooperative
Societies
with
50,000
about 600
looms
engaged
scheme,
for
were
under
this
by
the
of
R&.300
to
the
extent
of
83
million
sq.mtrs., were
produced
58
Ibid., p.6.
72
from
and
Is
a
the
cloth
during 1990-91. 5 9
Market
The
Scheme).
of
of
the
Primary
the
year
period
1988-89.
The total
expenditure
under
rebate
State
to
encouraging
foreign
Tamilnadu,
the
implementing
award
of
handloom
this
prizes
fabrics,
Government
of
goods
Tamilnadu
the top
three
1975.
cotton
Ibid.,p.8.
Ibid. , p.10 .
73
have
exporters
59
produced
A
in
in
been
state
cotton
handloom
The
implemented
welfare
schemes
Security
Central
free
VIII
Schemes,
the
Cooperative Handlooni
Weavers
for
contribute
given
Savings
and
contributes
the
government
the
fund
is
government.
the
weaver-
(55
member
superannuation
this
centrally
sponsored
'Thrift
Fund
Scheme
for
the
weavers'
matching
contribution
of
the
Central Government is
subject
to
weaver
74
in
sum
of
Rs. 66.10 lakh have been sanctioned for the year 1989-90.
The
loan
assistance
from
Housing
and
Urban
with
Development
'
unit,
cost
of
constructed
standard
twin objective
with
the
set
section
of
weavers
and
80
thereby
nearly
1989-90. 6 4
Ibid., p.16.
63
erore
khadi
Ibid. , p.17.
Ibid. , p.18 .
75
Rs.13.68
the
year
was
providing
financial
studies
chartered
have
and
like
medical,
engineering,
persuing
agriculture,
scholarships
Re.51,000,
the
65
by
Governments
measures
will be of no avail,
unless
have
Ibid., p.18.
76
the
been
all
handloom