Himalayan Times (1961)

Himalayan Times . -Five*

I. -I ■ / :

PROGRESS OF HANDLOOM INDUSTRY

• Shri V. Subramanian, Secretary,
All India Handloom Board

February 12, 1961

Centuries before the
machine was in 'ont::d to
weave cloth;, the hand
loom industry in India
had jtlained a high deg-
ree of perfection. The
history of the hundl inrus
dales back to thu Vodio
times. The ha'ndldjra wea-
vtr enjoyed a virtual
monopoly in the absenci
of th« machine, t he ad-
vent of machine age spi lt
danger to the ha dloom
weaver, though as the
largest cottage in dually
in Irjdia, it oentinued to
occupy a proud pi ice in
the national economy. Its
continued ex i a ten ot
through the centuries to
date constitutes by itself
a saga of remarkable
resilience.

The second World
War gave considerable
stimulus to production of
oloth by the textile mills
in India. So long as the
demand of cloth remained
active, the handloom in
dustry was in a position
to share with the mills
the advantages resulting
from the boom period of
the war. The sale of
mill cloth did hot impinge
on the Bale of handloom
oloth, as there was scope
f r the sal" of both. Con
d lions, however, began

tu alter in the latter, half
of 19.51 Due to various
reasons, '.be sales of band-
loom cloth deoiined sharply
iind unsold stocks began
to accumulate in hand,
loom factories, co-opera-
tive societies and with
individual weavers. This
resulted in untold misery
to weavers who were
ficed with acute unem-
ployment.

Rehnbilit tion Measures

The Government of
India was quick to lea
li-e the, gravity of the
situation and took seve-
ral steps for the rehabi-
litation of the industry
and entruited tho work
with the All Ind a Hand-
1 mm Board in 195». The
n-uidloom Board realised
that the development of
the handloom industry
could bo achieved on
sound lines only if, the
main difficulties posed
by the lack of orgariiua.
tion, lack of technical
assistance and research
inadequate supply of yarn
of the required counts
at reasonable prices, and
inability of the handloom
cloth to oompete on equul
terms with the mill cloth
were resolved.

Tbe worker, under a

master weaver has no sey
with .regard . tp- the sale
price and be cannot share
the profits made by ttie
master weaver. The in-
dependent weaver bas not
at his .disposal tbe bene-
fits .of research and tech-
nical 'assistance which
only organised institutions
ooiild hope to offer. There-
fore, if the bandloom wea-
ver is to be. assured of
the full fruits of his la-
bour, be is to be given
proper guidance and assis-
tance. The only . organi-
sation, which can deliver
the poo is so far as the
weavers are concerned, is
the co operative one. Co-
operation offers the best
medium to ensure maxi-
mum benefits to weavers.
The co operative societies
provide the weaver with
yaru and take back tbe
finished poo j. 'J hey also
provide their members
with continuous work as
far. as possible and a,ive
remunerative wages. They
are constantly se king to
improve the techniques of
production as well as the
productivity of the looms.
They aim at improved
bousing and other facili-
ties required for the in-
dustry. A portion of the
profits is set apart for
paying bonus to the
workerB. The' common
fund created from the
net profits iB utilized for
extending assistance for
maternity relief, educa-
tion etc. Ihe thrift habit