Question : Handloom Sector

(a) whether the Government is aware of the role of textile and clothing industries in growth and development of the country;

(b) whether the Government has considered exempting Goods and Services Tax (GST) for handloom sector and health insurance scheme for the benefit of weavers, if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government is considering to set up a Regional Office of Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) at Bhubaneswar and an Office of Asstt. Director at Koraput in view of handicraft potential of the State;

(d) whether the Government is also considering to release the pending amount of Rs. 4 crore for completion of craft village project at Raghurajpur in Puri district in Odisha; and

(e) if so, the details thereof and the progress achieved in this regard?

MINISTER OF TEXTILES
(SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a): Yes, Sir.

(b): GST has been introduced by the Government of India to rationalize multiple taxes on goods & services and to bring transparency in the taxation system. Accordingly, it is applicable to the Textile sectors also, including handlooms. Turnover of most of the weavers does not exceed Rs.40 Lakh and hence they do not require registration under GST. Moreover, GST is implemented through an Act of Parliament with States as equal partners in GST Council with Government of India. GST is applicable on each stage of the value chain i.e. cotton fibre, yarn and fabric @ 5% with facilities of input credit.

The Government of India, Ministry of Textiles has implemented Health Insurance Scheme (HIS) on the pattern of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) upto March, 2018 for handloom workers. The RSBY was implemented by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoH&FW) for all workers. With the launch of Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) on 23.09.2018, RSBY has been subsumed in it.

The Scheme provides healthcare facilities upto Rs.5.00 lakh per family to around 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable families. All such beneficiary families under Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana that do not figure in the targeted groups as per SECC data are also covered under PMJAY. AB-PMJAY covers deprived families in rural areas and families of workers of identified occupational categories in urban areas, as per the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) -2011 database.

(c): The Office of the Development Commissioner for Handicraft under the Ministry of Textiles is having a Centre viz. Handicrafts Service Centre at Bhubaneshwar. There is no proposal to open new Centre at Bhubaneshwar and Koraput.

(d) & (e): Funds for ongoing projects are released on receipt of progress of the project and utilisation of previous funds.
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