Boost for local handloom and handicraft artisans
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: November 22, 2021 -

OF the various projects which the central and state governments are planning or implementing to uplift socio-economic condition of the people, the announcement made by Union minister of commerce & in-dustry, and textiles Piyush Goyal for setting up of a mega handloom cluster at a cost of Rs 30 crore at Olympic silver medallist Saikhom Mirabai Chanu's native village in Nongpok Kakching seems to be the most prospective venture towards aiding progress of the state.

The Union minister's vision to establish a handloom and handicraft village at Moirang in Bishnupur district where the INA hoisted the tricolour for the first time in Indian soil is also worth appreciation and should be implemented in the right earnest to boost the local economy.

Though both projects are officially in recognition of Mirabai's feat and in honour of the freedom fighters, success of the same would depend on how the funds from the Union government are utilised by officials working at the ground level.

With Piyush Goyal acknowledging Manipur's contribution in the sector of handloom and handicraft as well as growing demand for textile products of the state, allocation of fund is unlikely to be an issue if the state, government could demonstrate judicious execution of projects suited to the local environment.

Moreover, the assurance that the Ministry of Textiles would extend all possible assistance in skill development, value addition, packaging, design, brand imaging, etc, as and where necessary should be capitalised upon to the optimum for Manipur has no shortage of skilled or semi-skilled labour force.

That the ministry's latest projects have tremendous potential to uplift the state's economy could be gauged from commerce and industries minister Th Biswajit's statement at the same event that Manipur has around 2.11 lakh looms and around 2.12 lakh weavers with the numbers continuing to grow.

It needs no reminding that there is huge gap in the developmental index between the rural and urban areas in Manipur.

The crisis in the rural areas has been actually one of too much focus on agriculture but without the basic infrastructure such as viable irrigation network and ordinary transport system.

As such what is needed is more manufacturing units, including those that process and add value to handloom and handicraft products.

Project implementing agencies could also strive to replicate China's model of industrialisation in the late-1970 and 80s which was mainly driven by township and villageenterprises.

Some years back, the Manipur Handloom & Handicraft Development Corporation (MHHDC) Limited set sight on supplying uniforms for students of schools across the state to boost morale of handloom weavers.

However, the goal still remains unattainable as procuring raw materials and modern machinery as well as marketing the finished products have been problematic for the local artisans.

Thus, for an economically backward state like Manipur, handloom and handicraft industries should be promoted vigorously as they have been contributing to the economic structure and development of the state to a great extent.

Even if the aspiration to see rapid development in the industrial sector seems unrealistic at the juncture, there is no reason why the government of Manipur should fail to tap whatever revenue generational sources it possesses.