The handloom weavers in Chhattisgarh are being assisted with preparation of new apparel designs for their products by National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), officials stated on Monday. There had been 20 per cent jump in the Budget for the Village Industries Department in the 2015-16 Budget provisions at Rs119.58 crore, they stated.
The Budget for the Village Industries Department in 2014-15 was Rs97.84 crore. During the last financial year, the Chhattisgarh Khadi and Village Industries Board supplied cloth worth Rs1.52 crore. Moreover, the Government replaced the old looms with weavers free of cost. Notably, about 1.08 crore metres of Handloom cloth was woven by Chhattisgarh’s weavers in the current fiscal year 2014-15 till January 31, officials stated. There are about 234 Co-operative societies with 60,000 members. They work on 20,000 Handlooms in the State.
About 13.40 lakh metres of Handloom cloth was produced in the year 2004-05. The cloth was produced by various Co-operative societies, they stated. Chhattisgarh’s weavers supplied Handloom cloth worth Rs95 crore to the various State Government Departments in the year 2013-14, officials stated. About 45,900 weavers are employed in 15,300 looms of ‘Handloom Weavers Sanghs’ of the State Government’s Village Industries Department. About 7000 women are employed in the Handloom sector through the 206 Women Self-Help Groups (SHGs). The weavers earn around Rs9000 per month.
The Department officials said in order to provide regular employment to Handloom weavers and to provide market to the garments made by them, tye Chhattisgarh State Handloom Development and Marketing Co-operative Society was registered in December 2000.
There were about 50 primary weavers committees at the time of formation of the Society and in 2014 there are 234 committees. The Handloom Weavers Society was appointed as the nodal agency for procuring Government clothes orders.
The uniforms of School Education Department and Rajiv Gandhi School Mission students, Tribal Welfare Department schools students, blankets, sheets, blazer, mosquito nets, uniform of Women and Child Development Department, durrie and Polyester sarees, Khaki dress material of the police department, mosquito, kit cloth, blankets, polyester sarees are supplied by the Handloom sector.The officials said Rs9.45 crore was paid as wages to the Primary Weavers’ Committees. The amount was paid for weaving and stitching.
In 2012, a 36-year old Weavers Co-operative Committee in Kera village of Navagarh Development Block in Janjgir-Champa district set a record in cloth production by bringing out 1.26 lakh metres during 2011-12.
The Janjgir-Chamba district is known for ‘Kosa’ cloth production. The weavers committee by the name of ‘Santosh Bunkar Sahakari Samiti’ not just achieved record cloth production, it also paid a total of Rs21.50 lakh to the weavers as wages for their work.
The weaver committee registered in 1976 was on the verge of closing down in 1992 due to changing market demand which led the management on the verge of closing production. The market impact also led to bad financial condition of many of the members of the co-operative.
A group of enthusiastic weavers while not giving up their fight for survival revived the committee with the assistance of the State Co-operatives Department in 2006 and resumed cloth production. The committee also received a ‘revolving fund’ of Rs1.50 lakh from the Handloom Directorate.
later, the committee started supplying cloth to Chhattisgarh State Handloom Trade and Development Co-operative Federation for Government requirements. The effort led to local weavers joining the committee in the hope of getting regular employment. The Committee after its revival had 23 members which currently had swelled to more than 100.
According to Committee Chairman Krishna Kumar Devangan, the committee produced cloth worth Rs27.97 lakh in 2009-10 which resulted in earnings of Rs9.80 lakh. In 2010-11, the committee produced cloth worth Rs40.60 lakh. He said that the Committee in view of the market demand had now also diversified into producing polyester, shirting and seating cloth (Tatpatti).
The District Co-operative Central Bank has advanced a loan amounting to Rs6 lakh to further promote the work being done by the Committee, Kumar said. The prosperity is there to see in the Kera village as the weavers who lived in mud houses are constructing ‘pucca’ houses and their children had started going to school, he added.