INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING, SCIENCE AND - Volume 6, Issue 7, November 2017

Pages: 97-107

Date of Publication: 01-Nov-2017

Print Article   Download XML  Download PDF

POWER DRIVEN LOOMS: THE INDIAN DECENTRALISED TEXTILE SECTOR

Author: Dr. Durgesh Kumar Srivastava

Category: Engineering, Science and Mathematics

Abstract:

The powerloom industry came to be a successor and extension of the handloom industry. It was therefore obvious that handloom centers in the country developed into powerloom centers also. Of course, there were some other centers which developed independently as powerloom centers for different reasons. The main ailment of the power loom industry is that a large portion of it depends upon the private spinners for the supply of yarn and on the master weavers for the processing of cloth, its sale, etc. The imbalance in the weaving and spinning capacity and lack of a co-operative infrastructure for pre and post weaving facilities have been causing acute economic hardships to the weavers. Besides, as their services are not institutionalized, they have to forgo the commercial gains of their labour and have been reduced to the position of hired labour. The vast majorities of power loom weavers fall in the lowest income group. Majority of them work for master weavers who exploit them by manipulating the prices of raw materials as well as finished goods to their own advantage. Sometimes, weavers are also fleeced by the master weavers and the money lenders, who charge usurious rates of interest on loans taken by the weavers to buy materials or equipments or to tide over difficult periods or for the celebrations of a marriage or the defraying of medical expenses. There is also widespread unemployment among the weavers. This paper is based on secondary data and tries to identify the challenges faced by the workforce in decentralized powerloom sector and the government’s response in resolving these issues.

Keywords: The powerloom industry came to be a successor and extension of the handloom industry. It was therefore obvious that handloom centers in the country developed into powerloom centers also. Of course, there were some other centers which developed independently as powerloom centers for different reasons. The main ailment of the power loom industry is that a large portion of it depends upon the private spinners for the supply of yarn and on the master weavers for the processing of cloth, its sale, etc