Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

New Handlooms Policy on the Anvil

1. The Prime Minister has directed the Ministry of Textiles to prepare a separate policy for the handloom weavers to be finalized within the next sixty days. The new policy will be aimed at improving the work and life situation of weavers in the country.

2. It may be recalled that the President of India, in his address to Parliament, had called for a programme of "Two years for the Weavers" to respond to the challenges faced by the weaving community through an appropriate policy response. The Planning Commission enlisted the help of a large number of technical professionals who have been working in this area and has also prepared a draft on action for this sector.

3. Shri T.K.A. Nair, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister chaired a meeting to discuss the outline of such a policy which has to be accompanied by an Action Plan for weavers. The meeting discussed issues of updating the database of weavers, technology support, credit, skill upgradation and market support. A large number of professionals working in the area like Ms. Jasleen Dhamija, Ms. Uzramma Bilgrami, Ms. Tra Kapur Chishti, Mr. Rahmatullah Ansari, Shri Rajiv Sethi, Mr. William Bissel and Shri Adarsh Kumar attended the meeting. It was decided that this group of professionals would work as a technical support group to assist the Ministry of Textiles in formulating the policy.