Trivandrum rebuilding the fabric of handloom sector

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Thiruvananthapuram District Industries Centre has brought about a turnaround in the ailing traditional handloom weaving sector by coordinating weaver societies and producing record handloom uniform fabric for the next school academic year, alleviating the misery of traditional handloom workers. The Thiruvananthapuram DIC which employs the largest number of looms in the state with 1,860 looms under 136 weaver societies, produced 11.14 lakh metre of shirting and 0.68 lakhs metres suiting for the coming academic year, against the target of 5.2 lakh metre shirting and 0.46 lakhs metre suiting, shooting 170 per cent ahead of the target. 

Suresh K V, manager, DIC, Thiruvananthapuram, said the fabric made in the looms under the weaver societies in Thiruvananthapuram has 67 per cent of polyester and 33 per cent cotton. The polyester is used so the fabric can last for one academic year, he said. When the scheme to distribute free handloom uniforms to school children was introduced in 2016, there were only 600 looms under the societies. But that steadily increased and now there are expected to be more looms joining the scheme in the coming academic year, as more weavers have evinced interest in the scheme which provides them guaranteed income round the year. It also provides production incentives, contributory thrift fund, fund for maintenance of looms and aid for buying looms for eligible weavers. 

Ashok Kumar, secretary of HWICST, Mangalathukonam, said, “A weaver named Ramabhadran, registered under our society, earned a record production incentive of J 41,030 in the just-concluded academic year by weaving around 10-15 metres of fabric daily against the target of 3.75 meters per day.” 
While more weavers are interested to take up the profession in the once ailing sector, the main challenge being faced by the societies is the lack of trained young weavers.

If only more young weavers are introduced to this field will it survive in the long run, said Ashok. In addition, the government should ensure the timely disbursal of wages. In Thiruvananthapuram alone, the government owes around J 5 crore as wages to the weavers. It has to be reimbursed forthwith, he said. The societies are now able to produce a targeted quantity of fabric or more in time. But the government should ensure a designated market, coupled with value-added products, say experts. 

Looping in more  
Thiruvananthapuram DIC has produced 11.14 lakh metre of shirting and 0.68 lakh metre of suiting for the current academic year, which is around 170 per cent over its target  
Around 1,860 looms are operational in Thiruvananthapuram alone under 138 weaver societies 
The DIC has disbursed a sum of J 9.24 crore as wages till December 12, 2017
The DIC also owes J5 crore to date as wages   
The DIC has granted around J17.02 crore in last fiscal for various purposes including wages,  fund for repairing looms, contributory thrift fund, QCI honorarium, production incentives, aid for buying looms, and so on