Ministry of Textiles is implementing following schemes to promote the handloom and handicraft sector and welfare of weavers/artisans across the country including State of Tamil Nadu:

1. National Handloom Development Programme;
2. Raw Material Supply Scheme;
3. National Handicraft Development Programme;
4. Comprehensive Handicrafts Cluster Development Scheme

Under the above schemes, financial assistance/subsidy is provided to eligible handloom and handicraft agencies/weavers/artisans including self-help groups/non-Governmental organisations engaged in these sectors for raw materials, procurement of upgraded looms & accessories, toolkits, solar lighting units, construction of workshed, product & design development, technical and common infrastructure, marketing of handloom products in domestic/overseas markets, concessional loans under weavers’ MUDRA scheme and social security etc.

Under these schemes, funds are not allocated State/UT-wise. However, need based financial assistance is provided to eligible agencies for various interventions on receipt of viable proposals as per the extant guidelines of the respective schemes. The details of funds released/sanctioned under these schemes during the last three years and the current year are as follows:

Year	Funds released (Rs. in crore)
2020-21	392.98
2021-22	651.86
2022-23	469.58
2023-24 (as on 26.07.2023)	110.15

The following steps have also been taken for promotion and development of handloom and handicraft sectors in the country: -

1. Provision has been made for welfare of weavers and artisans through life & accidental insurance cover and financial support to Awardee weavers/artisans above 60 years of age in indigent circumstances.
2. Under Weavers’ MUDRA Loan/Concessional Credit Scheme, margin money assistance for individual weaver & artisan and handloom/handicraft organizations and credit guarantee fees on loans for a period of three years are provided. Also interest subvention is provided for handicraft artisans and handloom/handicraft organizations.
3. To enhance productivity, marketing capabilities and ensure better incomes, Producer companies have been formed in handloom and handicraft sectors.
4. To integrate Craft promotion with tourism, Craft Villages are being set up enroute popular tourist destinations.
5. 16 Design Resource Centres have been set up in Weavers’ Service Centres at Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Kancheepuram, Kolkata, Indore, Nagpur, Panipat, Meerut, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai to build and create design-oriented excellence in the Handloom Sector and to facilitate weavers, exporters, manufacturers and designers access design repositories for sample/product improvisation and development.
6. For export promotion, Handloom and Handicraft Export Promotion Councils have been organising various International marketing events/fairs. Besides, domestic marketing events are also organised in different parts of the country for the weavers/artisans to market and sell their products.

 

This information was given by the Union Minister of State for Textiles, Smt. Darshana Jardosh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

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