Weaving their way to progress: Manipur handlooms

13 Jul '16

3 min read

With the highest weavers to looms ratio in the country, Manipur is quietly weaving its way to progress with the help of several government schemes on improving handloom clusters and upgrading weaver skills to make fashion statement to catch the consumers' eyes worldwide.

Manipur has 2.04 lakh handloom workers and 1.90 lakh looms, as per the 2009-10 handloom census making it the state with the highest concentration of weavers in possession of looms.

Realising the huge potential of the handloom sector to improve the socio-economic conditions of the people, the state government in tandem with the Union Ministry of Textiles has provided financial and skill upgradation assistance to 18,272 weavers to enhance production, a senior state government official said.

The 18,272 weavers were given Rs 4000 or Rs 6000 per person under the Deen Dayal Hathkargha Protsahan Yojana (DDHPY) and Integrated Handloom Development Scheme (IHDS) respectively, said M Rajen Singh, Additional Director (Handloom) of Commerce & Industries Department.

As many as 11550 weavers will be trained under Integrated Skill Development Scheme (ISDS) in 2017, Mr Singh said adding that the state's Handloom and Textile department had constructed a total of 115 Common Facility Centres (CFCs) at the cost of Rs 5.53crore for carrying out common activities, like warping, dyeing, pre and post-loom operations.

Also, 166 handloom technology and fashion designers have been employed in 117 handloom clusters in a bid to monitor, supervise and produce new and attractive designs, he said adding that the entire cost of Rs 10.16 crore for it was borne by the central government.

The state government has constructed work sheds equipped with solar lights for 17,042 weavers at a cost of more than Rs 600.67 lakh under Workshed-Cum-Housing Scheme, IHDS and North Eastern Region Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS.

Furthermore, to ensure regular availability of yarn, one-time assistance of Rs 274.50 lakh was provided as a corpus fund by the National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC) to ensure regular supply of yarn to the 117 handloom clusters in the state.

The inauguration of the multi-storeyed shopping complex in the border town of Moreh in January this year and of the Panthoibi Arcade, at Wangkhei in November last year, is expected to provide a big boost to the sale and popularization of Manipuri handloom products, the official said. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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