Question : National Handloom Day

(a) whether the Government has recently celebrated National Handloom Day;

(b) if so, the details thereof along with the initiatives taken by the Government to make the event successful;

(c) whether the Government has scrapped All India Handloom Board and All India Handicraft Board and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and

(d) whether scrapping of these two Boards will severely affect promotion of Indian handicrafts and if so, the corrective steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?

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MINISTER OF TEXTILES
(SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) & (b): Yes, 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. One of the key objects of this initiative is to promote handlooms, increase income of weavers and enhance pride in their work. Ministry of Textiles has celebrated National Handloom Day on 7th August, 2020 across the country through Virtual Platform considering COVID-19 situation. The following initiatives were undertaken on the occasion:
1. Presentation on Craft Handloom Villages.

2. Launching of Mobile App & Backend Website for Handloom Mark Scheme (HLM).

3. Launching of My Handloom portal.

4. Social Media Campaign for promotion of Handloom.

5. Organization of two Quiz contests on Handlooms.

(c) & (d): The decision to disband All India Handloom Board and All India Handicraft Board were taken based on a thorough review of the functioning of the Boards. The assessment revealed that weavers/artisans from across the Nation did not benefit from the Boards which barely met, and did not take weavers/artisans across all States into confidence. There was no contribution from the Boards as regard to policy formulation and its implementation.

On the other hand, the Weavers’ Service Centres (WSCs), Handicrafts Service Centres (HSCs) and State Handloom departments have been working well in good coordination through interactions on policy, implementation of Government schemes, educating weavers/artisans about online marketing platforms including efforts to onboard weavers on Government e-marketplace (GeM), and addressing the problems of handloom weavers/artisans through Chaupals.
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