Manipur, having highest concentration on weavers in the country, is making its way to progress with the help of several government schemes on improving handloom clusters and upgrading weaver skills to make fashion statement and attract consumers worldwide.
Manipur has 2.04 lakh handloom workers and 1.90 lakh looms, as per the 2009-10 handloom census making it the state with the highest concentration of weavers in possession of looms.
Realising the huge potential of the handloom sector to improve the socio-economic conditions of the people, the state government in tandem with the union textile ministry has provided financial and skill upgradation assistance to 18,272 weavers to enhance production, a senior state government official said.
The 18,272 weavers were given Rs 4000 or Rs 6000 per person under the Deen Dayal Hathkargha Protsahan Yojana (DDHPY) and Integrated Handloom Development Scheme (IHDS) respectively, M Rajen Singh, additional director (handloom) of commerce & industries department said.
As many as 11550 weavers will be trained under Integrated Skill Development Scheme (ISDS) in 2017, Singh said adding that the state’s handloom and textile department had constructed a total of 115 Common Facility Centres (CFCs) at the cost of Rs 5.53crore for carrying out common activities, like warping, dyeing, pre and post-loom operations.
The state government has constructed work sheds equipped with solar lights for 17,042 weavers at a cost of more than Rs 600.67 lakh under Workshed-Cum-Housing Scheme, IHDS and North Eastern Region Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS).
