COVER STORY
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#VOCALFORLOCAL...except for the handloom sector? SUNAINA KHETAN INTERN AT TEXTILE VALUE CHAIN
A
bstract
lessness, low prices and endless supply of machine-made textiles.
In 1948, the cottage Industries Board (CIB) was established and This paper reviews and questions the need for the abolition of the Local artisans, impoverished and the existing Handloom Committee handloom and handicrafts boards plagued with unemployment, suf- was subsumed into the CIB. The and considers the effect that this fered unyielding distress with no establishment of this board emphaabolition will bring upon the infor- alternative industry to turn to. The sised rural economic development mal sector of artisans and weavers crisis was so serious in severity through small-scale, cottage and in India. It draws similarities be- that even the colonial government village industries, to uplift the rutween the situation of this sector could not bear to overlook it. Af- ral masses in the country. Later, in during the Pre-Khadi movement ter year-long discussions with the 1952, to further prioritise and expeand that of it today, having been left leaders of the handloom sector, dite the prosperity of the handloom weavers and artisans, the All India without government aid in the midHandloom Board and All dle of an economic crisis. India Handicrafts Board Introduction were separated from The abolishment of the the CIB. These sectors Amidst the widespread appeal for #MadeinIndia All India Handloom Board have heavily contributand the All India Handiand #VocalforLocal, it seems that artisans have ed towards the empowcrafts Board in July this erment and upliftment been left to fend for themselves...yet again. year comes as an impetus of women in India. We to the repetition of history. have national leaders like Kamaladevi ChattoThe Vocal for Local campadhyay and Pupul Jaypaign harkens back to more than a century ago, when the establishment of the All India akar to thank for their arduous efMahatma Gandhi appealed for the Handloom Board was proposed forts to recognise and preserve the ‘Swadeshi movement’ in 1906. And by the committee in 1942. The handloom and handicrafts sector. at the helm of this appeal was the goals of this board were to bridge Handloom Sector: The Heart of handloom sector of India. The In- the gap between the government India dustrial Revolution brought upon and the weavers, to provide them a wave of cheap, mass-produced with a platform to voice their con- Today, the handloom sector is an textiles from Britain into Indian cerns, to enable and facilitate the indispensable contributor to emmarkets, and the handloom sec- adequate supply of raw materi- ployment generation in India, sector took a severe blow. The hand- al, to market handloom products ond only to agriculture. While agriloom fabrics, slow to produce and and to ensure the overall welfare culture may be the backbone of the subject to human errors, could of the handloom segment in India. country, our traditional artisanal textiles and crafts are undeniably not hold ground against the flaw| SEPTEMBER 2020
