Question : Loss of livelihood of Handloom Workers

(a) whether the Government has taken notice of the loss of livelihood of handloom and power loom workers and the low productivity during the pandemic;

(b) whether the Government is aware that the weavers want to sell their textile products to Government institutions and they also seek subsidy for the procurement of raw materials;

(c) if so, the details thereof and the details of the assistance given by the Government in this regard;

(d) whether textile industry is facing slowdown due to the failure of cooperative committees which have affected the collection of GST; and

(e) if so, the details thereof during the last five years and till date and the steps taken by the Government in this regard?

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR TEXTILES
(SMT. DARSHANA JARDOSH)

(a) to (e): The Government has taken the following steps proactively to address the issues arising out of pandemic.

i. Ministry of Textiles has requested the States and UTs for their State Handloom Corporations/Co-operatives/Agencies to make purchases of the finished inventory available with the handloom weavers/artisans.

ii. Steps have been taken to on-board weavers on Government e-Market place to enable them to sell their products directly to various Government Departments and organizations. So far about 1.50 Lakh weavers have been on-boarded on the GeM portal.

iii. To enhance productivity, marketing capabilities and ensure better incomes, 128 Handloom Producer companies have been formed in different States.


iv. Under Concessional Credit/Weaver MUDRA Scheme, financial assistance is provided as follows:

a. Margin money assistance
- @ 20% of loan amount, subject to maximum of Rs. 25,000/- per weaver,
- @ 20% of loan amount, subject to maximum of Rs. 20.00 lakh (@ Rs. 2.00 lakh for every 100 weaver/worker) per handloom organization,
b. Interest subvention upto 7% for 3 years; and
c. Credit Guarantee on loans for 3 years

v. Design Resource Centres have been set up in Weavers’ Service Centres at Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati and Kancheepuram, through NIFT with the objective to build and create design-oriented excellence in the Handloom Sector and to facilitate weavers, exporters, manufacturers and designers access design repositories for sample/product improvisation and development.

vi. To promote marketing of handloom products, Handloom Export Promotion Council has been organizing International Fairs in virtual mode. During the year 2020-21, 12 handloom fairs were organized in virtual mode. Besides, domestic marketing events were also organized in different parts of the country for the weavers to market and sell their products.

vii. Raw Material Supply Scheme is being implemented throughout the country to make available Yarn to Handloom weavers. Under the Scheme, freight charges are reimbursed for all types of yarn; and component of 15% price subsidy is there for cotton hank yarn, domestic silk, wool and linen yarn and blended yarn of natural fibres, with quantity caps.

viii. 534 number of Chaupals were organized in various States to educate the weavers to avail benefits of various handloom schemes for their welfare and socio-economic development.

ix. To promote e-marketing of handloom products, 23 e-commerce entities have been engaged for online marketing of handloom products.

x. Marketing platform is provided to the handloom agencies/weavers by organizing marketing expos/ events to sell their products.
Growth of the textile Industry depends on many factors, besides functioning of the co-operative societies. Due to unorganized and traditional nature of handloom sector, the data related to loss of livelihood during the pandemic, if any, is dispersed and largely unavailable for centralized quantification.

***