Celebration of National Handloom Day
- Posted By
10Pointer
- Categories
Economy
- Published
9th Aug, 2021
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Context
National Handloom Day was celebrated on 7thAugust, which manifests India’s diversity and the dexterity of countless weavers and artisans.
About the National Handloom Day
- The first National Handloom Day was inaugurated on 7 August 2015 in Chennai.
- It was started to commemorate the Swadeshi Movement which was launched on 7th August 1905, to encourage indigenous industries and handloom weavers.
- In 2015, the Government decided to designate the 7th August, as the National Handloom Day, every year.
- On this day, the contribution of the handloom-weaving community ishighlightedfor the socio-economic development of our country.
Handloom sector in India
- The export of handloom products from India was valued at US$ 343.69 million in FY19.
- In FY20, the export stood at US$ 319.02 million.
- The handloom products export from April 2020 to March 2021 was US$ 223.19 million and for March 2021, it was US$ 23.43 million.
- Export is promoted by the HEPC.
- Nearly 15% of cloth production in India is from the handloom sector.
- Production of hand-woven fabric from India constitutes 95% of the global production.
The Handloom Export Promotion Council (HEPC)
- This is a statutory body which is constituted under the Ministry of Textiles, to promote the export of all handloom’s products.
- HEPC was constituted in 1965 with 96 members and it currently has about 1,500 members.
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Challenges being faced by the handloom sector:
- Low productivity in comparison to the powerloom and mill sector.
- Limited scope of technological up-gradation and for the improvement in poor weaving activity.
- The tendency of skilled labour to shift to other sectors.
- Constraints related to credit availability.
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