Weavers moving away from profession due to lack of income

The number of handloom weavers in the country has declined due to lack of income which has led many families to move away from the profession, Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday. Textiles Minister Santosh Gangwar said in a bid to improve the state of handloom weavers, the government has come up with a vision under which it plans to ensure a Rs 500 per day income for weavers.

He said an India Handloom brand has also been launched to assure people of the quality of the products, while August 7 was observed as national Handloom Day to promote the industry. "We are getting good results," the minister said, adding that the amount which is sanctioned to create a cluster now has been enhanced from Rs 60 lakh to Rs 2 crore. Responding to supplementaries, he said efforts were being made to increase the output of both handlooms and powerlooms. In his written response, Gangwar pointed out that lack of modernisation, poor production infrastructure, weak financial strength, dependence on middle-men and fluctuating input costs were the key problems of the powerloom sector.