Indian Handloom - A Brief Introduction by Folksmarket.com

Handloom Sector has always been priority for the Govt of India. After Agriculture this is the second most employement generating sector in India. India has, traditionally, been the fabric rich country. Not only the fabric were produced for daily wear and furnishing, but there were lot of colorful experiments too.  The ever growing influence of different rulers has enriched the traditional arts of the weavers and they have started receiving the patronage from the Royal and Aristocrat family. This has added new colors and vibrant texture to the fabrics. The motifs, butas, zari etc are the hallmark of Indian fabric

 

This art of the weavers and cultivation of the fabric is our historical asset. Millions of our population are still weaving the fabric with their old techniques which once were appreciated by the Kings, Nawabs and Zamindars of India and abroad. Banarasi Sarees, Ikat of Andhra Pradesh, Paithani of Maharashtra, Bhagalpuri sarees, Jamdani of Bengal, Muslin of Bangladesh,Maheshwari and Chanderi of Madhya Pradesh, Muga Silk of Assam and North East states etc are not the glory of today. Our all the rulers and their mistressess were fond of these fabrics. Abroad also there were huge popularity and demand of Indian Fabric.

With the second revolution, Industrial revolution during 17^th century, the role of hand weaving has suffered a serious jolt from the loom operated by the power. Since then this handloom saw a downward growth till 1947. The weavers suffered set back after set backs during the colonial rule. The English loved the handloom fabric of India and to encash their love the colonial ruler in India started purchasing the fabric at a very low cost and sold at premium prices. Not only this they followed the Mercantile Capitalism where raw material of the fabric were purchased at a very low cost and finished product sold to Indian at exorbitant prices. The Indian weavers were forced to accept the wages way below the prevailing market rates. The accumulation of the wealth from India had contributed to the Industrial revolution in Britain. India from a Cotton exporter, industrially advance country, became the importer of manufactured cotton textiles. An enormous profit reaped the by the East India Company. 

Industrial revolution, on the other hand, resulted a new rich bourgeois class that came to power in Britain. This class had forced the British govt to take a note of the “misrule” of the East India Company in India, obviously by jealousy and internal conflicts. As a result, Regulating Act 1773, Pitt’s India Act 1784, and Charter Acts 1793 and 1813 were taken up as a reform measure. 

Hence it will not be naïve to say that it was British colonial ruler, who broke up the warp and weft of Indian Handloom and destroyed the "spinning wheel". The alarming potential and growth of Indian traditional art industries forced British to change the Fiscal policy for India and introduced Open Competition free trade with NO protection to Indians. 

These entire unfortunate events led to wreckage of the back bone of the Indian weavers till 1947, when India got freedom. The intention of the Govt has often been sincere but will was lacking. The Govt organized itself to take steps for the betterment of the handloom sector. However it was only in 1987, the first Handloom Census was carried on, followed by second Handloom Census in the Year 1995 to enable better planning and execution of the handloom schemes.  The work was assigned to National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). 

To further their development agenda for the Handloom weavers, Govt once again assigned the census and 3^rd Handloom Census was carried out in 2009-10. The Census was carried out in all States and Union

Territories by NCAER. The survey for the Census was undertaken using Personal Digital Assistance (PDA) mobile technology by professional survey agencies selected by NCAER, and included AC Nielsen ORGMARG, UP Industrial Consultants Ltd. (UPICO) and Indian Council of Market Research (ICMR).

Report and findings

• The Third Census covered covered 3,336 towns and 27,745 villages across 440 handloom concentrated districts in 29 States and Union Territories. 
• A total of 43.32 lakh handloom workers in 27.83 lakh handloom weaver and allied worker households and non-households, as well as 23.77 lakh handlooms were enumerated.
• Comparing the findings from only weaver households, it is seen that 25.25 lakh weaver households as per the Second Census have declined to 22.68 lakh weaver households as per the Third Census.

Distribution of the Handloom Weavers by Type of Household

Types of Household	Number of Household			Percent Distribution
	Rural	Urban	Total	Rural	Urban	Total
Weaver Household	1,985,186	282,822	2,268,008	82.0	78.1	81.5
Allied Workers Household	316,009	75,116	391,125	13.1	20.7	14.1
Idle Loom Household	78,495	2,761	8,1256	3.2	0.8	2.9
Other (household with no adult workers)	41,427	1,455	42,882	1.7	0.4	1.5
Total	2,421,117	362,154	2,783,271	100	100	100

Distribution of Total Handloom workers by Age

Age Group	Number of Weavers			Percent Distribution
	Rural	Urban	Total	Rural	Urban	Total
Less than 18 years	400,931	84,110	485,041	11	12	11.2
18-35 years	1,818,593	310,027	2,128,620	50.1	44.4	49.1
36-45 years	752,574	139,998	892,572	20.7	20	20.6
46-60 years	529,654	123,901	653,555	14.6	17.7	15.1
Above 60 years	131,404	40,684	172,088	3.6	5.8	4.0
Total	3,633,156	698,720	4,331,876	100	100	100

• About 33% of these weavers have never attended the school

• 70 percent of the Weavers are in productive age group that is from 18-45 years

 Distribution of Loom by Types

Types of Loom	Number of Looms			Percent Distribution
	Rural	Urban	Total	Rural	Urban	Total
Pit Loom with Dobby/Jacquard	232,515	128,616	361,131	11.3	41.3	15.2
Other Pit loom	209,547	52,500	262,047	10.1	16.9	11.0
Frame Looms with Dobby/Jacquard	57,790	29,172	86,962	2.8	9.4	3.7
Other Frame Looms	1,207,715	72,219	1,279,934	58.5	23.2	53.8
Pedal Looms	23,208	11,075	34,283	1.1	3.6	1.4
Loin Looms	294,263	14,487	308,750	14.2	4.7	13
Other Looms	40,915	3,309	44,224	2	1.1	1.9
Total	2,065,953	311,378	2,377,331	100	100	100

Dominance of the Yarn

Cotton is the yarn that is the basis of most handloomfabrics. Cotton of different counts is used by most weaver households for the production of different fabrics like handloomcotton towel handloom sarong/ angavastram, handloom sari, handloom towels/napkins, etc., which accounts for a large majority of handloom products. Wool is also used in handloom products, especially in the North-East and the northern states for products such as shawls and blankets. Silk is used by a smaller proportion of the weavers, and mostly in the southern states, and to an extent in West Bengal as well.

The Census was pretty comprehensibly done. There are many more facts reported in Census Report, that we at Folksmarket.com will be referring to time and again.

The idea is to find out the importance of the Handloom sector. In a world that is increasingly mechanized and standardized, the idea of handloom is very refreshing because of its manual skill and diverse work. The use of Natural fibres let the fabric breath of air easily from the environment. The synthetic fibre and the machine can not replace this colorful legacy of India. The handloom fabrics soothes the skin and let it glow naturally. The handloom fabric sector forms an important part of the Indian economy. It’s a traditional form of the art that has been patronized and promoted since time immemorial.

It is this glow and this skill that we at Folksmarket.com wants to preserve for us and generations to come. We ourselves are the patrons of the handloom fabrics and dream to have more patrons world over. Our celebration of the Folks will then, be realized.