The Genesis of Protection and Reservation of Indian Handloom .1950-2020.

Nine Milestones in the Evolution of Indian Textiles's Policy:

1) In April 1950 on the recommendations of fact-finding committee on Handlooms reserved certain items for weavering on Powerlooms and mills was prohibited.

2) In1952 Textile enquiry  commission under Nityanand Kanungo was set to survey the various sectors of textile industry viz the mills, Powerlooms and Handlooms with a view to determining the place of each in the national economy and their inter-relationship.
After a detail study the commission opined against remove of reservation in favour of handloom,but recommended against extension of reservation to other fabrics.

3) In1964 The Ashok Mehta committee nevertheless echoed the views of Kanungo committee and recommended that Powerlooms be allowed to acquire a paramount position in textile economy in India.

4)In 1974 Sivaraman committee on Handlooms was constituted to study exclusively the problems of handloom sector. It pointed out the inadequacy of Govt support and reservation actually benefited Powerlooms.

5) In 1978 The Janata party's Govt announced its integrated Textile Policy ensuring minimal protection for decentrailzed sector and to assist the growth of handlooms the capacity of Powerlooms and mills sectors were to be frozen at existing levels with expansion allowed in handloom and khadi sectors.
The government decide to setup the National Handloom Finance Development Corporation whose duty was to procure and distribution of hank-yarn and other raw materials for handloom weavers.

6) With the new Congress Govt at the centre announced new policy for handloom development in 1981 and wanted to regulate fresh expansion of capacity of Powerlooms in order to promote the development of Handlooms.

For the first time Powerlooms was recognised separately from handloom and allotted production targets higher than that for handloom,this imbalance led to the setting up of Handloom Reservation Act and National Textile Policy of 1985.

This was most comprehensive textile policy of independent India. It differed from other textile policies with the shift in emphasis from employment potential to that of enhancing productivity. It also viewed the textile sector in terms of processes involved-spinning, weaving and processing rather than the sectors
involved-handlooms, mills,powerlooms and khadi.

The act aimed at protecting the livelihoods of handloom weavers and protecting the cultural heritage of the handloom industry from encroachment by the powerloom. Under the Act, initially 22 textile articles were reserved for exclusive production through handlooms but subsequently, these were reduced to 11 articles vide amendments in 1996 (GOI, 2012). The major departure was that the powerloom sector was sought to be firmly removed from the market reserved from handloom. 
But this act came at a time when powerloom was already producing one-third of total cloth requirements and had formed strong alliances with state and local political interests to protect their positions.

The Act came into force on 31st March 1986. On April 1st, notifications were issued for new reservation orders. But the act was challenged by powerloom associations from various states in the Supreme Court in the same year and the SC ordered a stay on the implementation of the Act under the premise that it violated the fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 19(1)(g) of the Indian Constitution 9. The stay was vacated only in Feb 1993

7) In 1994 a Rajya Sabha committee was formed under the Chairmanship of Mrs. Sushma Swaraj to review the1985 Act which recommended reduction in the number of reserved articles.

 8) In1995,the Meera Seth Committee on Handloom Industry was appointed to review the impact of the Government of India’s policy on Handlooms (GOI, 1996). The committee also recommended modernization and mechanization of handlooms and felt that handlooms were not capable of competing in the global market. Based on all these recommendations, the number of reserved articles were reduced to11 in 1996. Items like, kota doria saree, shirting, crepe fabrics, table cloth, duster, basta, bukram cloth and low reed pick cloth were deleted.13 This gave a big fillip to the powerloom sector.

The latest among several attempts to dilute the HR Act and render it ineffectual came in Dec 2012. The 1985 Act had defined "handloom" as, "any loom other than powerloom".

9) In Dec 2012, an Advisory Sub-Committee on Handloom Reservation Act, 1985 held on 10th Dec, proposed a change in the definition of handloom to “handloom means any loom, other than powerloom; and includes any hybrid loom on which at least one process for weaving requires manual intervention or human energy for production" (GOI, 2013). The rationale cited was "to reduce the drudgery of handloom weavers" because which weavers were said to be leaving weaving.

The proposal of amendment of definition faced opposition from various quarters in the National Consultation on Handloom Sector organized on 1st March, 2013. 
The main argument forwarded by the opponents was that the proposed amendment would leave no difference between handloom and powerloom. Following this, a meeting of Advisory Committee was held on 12th April,2013 under the under the chairmanship of Secretary (Textiles).

But the decision on the proposed amendment was deferred to a sub-committee which was to deliberate on the matter and submit its report to the Advisory Committee. It was to also investigate on ’whether a sub-sector within the powerloom sector can be identified in which other than the fact that mechanization has been done in upto two out of the three basic weaving actions and remaining all other conditions are similar to that of handloom Weavers's.

The Terms of References enjoined the sub-committee to, inter alia, ’examine the possibility of categorizing small powerloom units/weavers into a separate group so as to extend certain benefits on the lines of handloom weavers'.
The Sub-committee submitted its report on October 29, 2013 recommending the status quo. In a statement issued on 9th January 2014 by Ministry of Textiles,the government accepted the recommendation: The Ministry of Textiles has accepted the report of the sub-committee and no amendment in the Handloom Reservation Act to change the definition of handloom is contemplated.

But the threat is not yet over. A recent Draft Consultation Paper on Handlooms released in Oct 2014 by Planning Commission concluded:handloom products, being labor intensive cannot be produced for the mass market and cannot be cheap. 

Providing protection under Reservation of Articles is unsustainable in an open market. Hence, handloom products must be branded and marketed to niche markets to clients who appreciate the value of hand made products and are willing to pay for them. (GOI, 2014, pp. 22).

~Devanga's Vidhana
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