Ques for Mains - Discuss various measures and initiative under taken by the government to encourage and promote handloom & silk products.
The Minister of State for Textiles (Independent Charge), Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar inaugurated the “Silk Fab” exhibition, in New Delhi on 20.oct.2014. The exhibition enables an interface between the weavers and consumers. The exhibition is an initiative of the office of Development Commissioner for Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles, through National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC) Ltd. to provide direct access to the handloom weavers to market their products to consumers in various cities of India.
The handloom sector of India employs 65 lakh persons directly or indirectly which is next only to agricultural sector in the country. The art of handloom weaving has traditional values attached to it and each region has exquisite varieties. The uniqueness of silk products such as Pochampalli, Paithani, Kanjivaram, Banarasi, Jamdani, Baluchari, and Ikkat, to name a few attracts customers across the globe with exclusives weaves, designs and traditional motifs. Through these exhibitions, handloom agencies not only market their products at reasonable rates but also get to know customers’ choice with regard to colour, design and weaving for future improvement of the product.
The Government of India has launched the “Handloom Mark” scheme for handloom products and “Silk Mark” for genuinity of silk products, to encourage and give a distinct identity to the products, apart from highlighting the uniqueness of the products. It also serves a guarantee for the buyer that the product being purchased is genuinely handwoven. All the exhibitors at the Silk Fab have been encouraged to display the ‘Handloom Mark’ and ‘Silk Mark’ tag on the products and thus aim to improve the earnings of the handloom weaver community.