Question : Celebration of National Handloom Day

(a) whether the Government is planning to celebrate National Handloom day, if so, the details and the aims and objective thereof;

(b) the details of steps taken by the Government to make the event successful along with the success achieved by such events in the past;

(c) whether the Government has taken steps to promote handloom through social media campaign and if so, the details and the outcome thereof;

(d) whether the Government has assessed the role of Handloom sector in the overall development of the economy and if so, the details thereof;

(e) whether the Government has prepared any action plan for design intervention, introduction of updated technology etc. for Handloom sector and if so, the details thereof; and

(f) the steps taken by the Government to boost the handicraft sector acrosss the country and generate employment therein?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF TEXTILES
(SMT. DARSHANA JARDOSH)

(a) to (c): In order to generate awareness about the importance of handloom industry and its contribution to the socio-economic development of the country, 7th August is celebrated as “National Handloom Day” every year, since 2015. The objective of this initiative is to promote handlooms, increase income of weavers and enhance pride in their work.

Various activities and events are organized on the occasion. These include physical and virtual marketing events, social media campaigns engaging all stakeholders, interactions with handloom clusters and pockets. The occasion is also celebrated in Weavers’ Service Centres, NIFT Campuses, Indian Institutes of Handloom Technology, offices of National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC) and Handloom Export Promotion Council. The occasion also provides an opportunity to engage State Handloom Departments and seek their support and involvement.
(d): Handloom Sector employs a sizeable population of the country. As per 4th census, the sector employs 35.22 lakh workers out of which 25.46 lakh are women. Thus the sector is both a symbol of rural employment and women empowerment. The sector has export earnings of more than Rs. 2000 crore per year (more than 300 million US dollar).

(e): Government of India has been implementing Block Level Cluster, a component of National Handloom Development Programme (NHDP) Scheme since 2015-16 for holistic & integrated development of handloom pocket, which provides financial assistance for various interventions such as design and product development, Hathkargha Samvardhan Sahayata for technology upgradation, construction of workshed, setting up of common facility centre (CFC) etc.
(f): Government imparts various training programmes and schemes for promotion, development and generation of employment for artisans of handicraft sector under “National Handicraft Development Programme (NHDP)” and Comprehensive Handicrafts Cluster Development Scheme (CHCDS).
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