Himalayan Times (1962)

Six

Himalayan Times

January 7, 1962'

DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES FOR HANDLOOMS

It if univeraally ao-
nowledged that the mus-
lins of Dacca, the c hints-
zos of Laoknow, the pa-
tolti of Baroda, the him-
rus of Hyderabad and
the Luogiei of Madras
are evou today unexoelled
io artiitio flavour These
notable oloth specimens
have boen flowing for
generation! into what are
now the great trade routes
of the world. It is thril-
ling to note that these
inherited their artiitio
skill and oraftsmansliip
from their forefathers. •

Towards the last de-
oade of the 18th century,
however the heyday of
the bandloom industry
was drawing to a dune.
The advent of the Indus-
trial Revolution dealt a
■tunning blow to this in-
dustry. It was further
crippled by the selfish
commercial polioy pursued
by the Government of
England. India could no
longer enjoy the mono-
poly in the Asian and
European textile markets.
Japan and England, be-
sides ousting India from
the foreign markets, con-
siderably reduced her trade
in the indigenous markets
by flooding into them
cheaper goods. Neverth-
less, a certain amount of
demand-for these goods
from time to time pro-

tected the industry ' frcm
complete oollapse.

The history of its
oontinued existence amidst
periU and privations and
trials and tribulations is
the highlight of a saga
of remarkable .resilience
to economio upheavals.
The handlnom industry
today is by fan the lar-
gest cottage industry in
India employing about
ten millions of artisans.
If agrioulture is conside-
red as the backbone of
India's^ economy, the
handloom industry may
be regarded es its limbs.
Already hard-stricken, this
massive industry was fur-
ther hit by the post-war
depression. Though there
was a short boon period,
the great depreaiion that
followed no sed a serious
threat to the millions earn-
ing their bread from it.
.It was feared that it
would dislocate the na-
tion's economy a« a whole.
Chronio unemployment
problem was facing the
weavers. Ther» were ac-
cumulated large unsold
stocks thus looking up
the already paltry rtnour-
oas of the handlnom wea-
vers. The weavers were
struggling hard to keep
the body and soul toge-
ther. The problem was
colon,si one and it had
to be attacked on all

fronts. The Government
of India was quick to
grasp the gravity of the
situation and it rushed
to the rescue of the poor
weavers.

The Government of
India introduced a series
of rehabilitation measures
for the development of
the industry, the most
important were the setting
tip the All India Hand-
loom Board and the cons-
titution of the Cess Fund.
'I he All India Handloom
Board . advises the
Government of India on
problems relating to the
bandloom industry, exa-
mine its various as] ots
and formulates plans and
soheines for its develop-
ment. The Cssb Fund
was created by levying
an additional excise duty
on all mill-made oloth
consumed with in the
country.

The precurious nature
of the Industry, the ex-
treme illiteracy and pover-
ty of the handloom wea-
vers and the nauseating
influence of the master
weuvers ov,er the poor
weavers were the impedi-
ments in the implemen-
tation of schemes, which
needed oonoeiitruted and
co-ordinated efforts. Ex-
perience has proved that
the oo-operativeB • sre the
competent agency for car-
rying out the ameliora-
tive measures in an orga-
nised and systematic man