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Powerloom
INTRODUCTION The decentralised
powerloom sector plays a pivotal role in meeting the clothing needs of
the country. Production of cloth as well as generation of employment has
been rapidly increasing in the powerloom sector. During 1998-99, the production
of cloth, in the decentralised powerloom sector was 20,690 million sq.
mtrs. and the employment generation was 3.99 million. During the year 1999-2000
(upto September ‘99), the production of cloth and employment generated
was 11,225.93 million sq. mtrs. and 4.05 millions respectively. The powerloom
industry produces a wide variety of cloth, both grey as well as processed,
with intricate designs. The contribution of the powerloom sector to the
total cloth production of the country is to the extent of 57% excluding
the cloth produced by non-SSI weaving and hosiery/knitting units. Powerloom
fabric also contributes significantly to the export earnings of the country.
To encourage new and incremental powerloom exports, the Government has
earmarked specific export quota of fabric and made-ups to quota countries
covered by the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) for powerloom manufacturers
since the year 1992. Starting with 3%, it increased to 5% in the year 1993
and to 10% from 1998 to 1999. This has been enhanced to 15% under the Quota
Policy and has become operative from 2000.
GROWTH IN THE POWERLOOM SECTOR The estimated number of powerlooms in the decentralised sector in the country at various stages of production are as follows: (As on 31st December)
(Source : State
Govts & UTs)
PRESENT POLICY RELATING TO INSTALLATION OF POWERLOOMS The present policy
relating to installation of powerlooms has been simplified. In terms of
Textiles (Development & Regulation) Order, 1993, every person on installing
the powerloom in the SSI sector should submit an Information Memorandum
in the prescribed form to an Officer notified by the State Government within
whose territory the powerloom has been installed, with a copy thereof to
the Textile Commissioner, Mumbai. The Information Memorandum(IM) is to
be filed to the authority concerned, as the case may be, alongwith the
prescribed fee of Rs. 1000/- irrespective of the number of powerlooms proposed
to be installed in the unit. Every person on installing any powerloom in
the non-SSI sector(other than units requiring Industrial Licences) should
file an Information Memorandum to the Textile Commissioner, Mumbai within
30 days of the installation for obtaining an acknowledgement thereof. Licence
is required in the case of Non-SSI units, only when the location of the
unit falls within 25 kms from the periphery of the standard urban area
limits of a city, having a population of more than 10 lakhs, as per 1991
census. However, if the location is within an Industrial Area/Estate set
up by the Government prior to 24th July, 1991, licence will not be required.
CENSUS OF POWERLOOMS In order to gather
authentic data on handlooms and powerlooms at the national level, the Government
had conducted a joint census of handlooms and powerlooms, with the help
of National Council for Applied Economic Research(NCAER). The work is completed
and the report is being finalised.
POWERLOOM SERVICE CENTRES During the 7th Five Year Plan period Government initiated a scheme of setting up Powerloom Service Centres (PSCs) with a view to provide the powerloom sector with inputs relating to matters such as HRD and testing. As on date, there
are forty-three Powerloom Service Centres established in various parts
of the country. Out of these, 13 Powerloom Service Centres are under the
administrative control of the Textile Commissioner, 29 Powerloom Service
Centres are under various Textile Research Associations and 1 Powerloom
Service Centres is under the administrative control of the Government of
Andhra Pradesh. One more centre at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh is yet to
be set up by the State Government.
PERFORMANCE OF POWERLOOM SERVICE CENTRES During the year 1998-99,
the 13 PSCs run by the office of Textile Commissioner trained 563 persons,
developed 744 new designs and tested 5,323 samples. The 29 PSCs run by
various TRAs have trained 1,311 persons, developed 4,758 designs including
new designs on CAD system and tested 35,720 samples. During the period
1998-99, PSCs under the office of the TXC have organised 55 exhibitions,
seminars and workshops, whereas PSCs under TRAs have organised a total
170 Exhibitions/Seminars/Workshops.
MODERNISATION & STRENGTHENING OF EXISTING PSCs The powerlooms in
the PSCs are very old and outdated and cannot run for a long time continuously.
The looms and equipment in the PSCs and the machinery existing in the industry
do not match. In such circumstances it becomes very difficult to attract
people from that area for training. Powerloom being a traditional occupation,
every child since birth is acquainted with the operation of the looms,
which are mostly installed in the house itself. The weavers attending the
training, require training on the latest looms and equipment and not on
the existing machinery available with the PSCs. In many cases, the training
becomes highly theoretical as the PSC is not able to give practical orientation
and training due to lack of modern machinery. Taking into consideration
these ground realities, the expectations of the powerloom industry and
the need for the thrust on technological upgradation in the industry, the
modernisation and strengthening programme of the Powerloom Service Centres
was taken up. The Government of India has approved the modernisation and
upgradation proposal for 21 PSCs (7 under TXC and 14 under TRAs) during
the 9th Five Year Plan period at an estimated cost of Rs.16.09 crore. During
the year 1998-99, the Ministry of Textiles has released Rs. 10 lakhs to
ATIRA, Rs. 11.30 lakhs to SASMIRA and Rs. 16 lakhs to SITRA for meeting
the non-recurring expenditure of their PSC under this programme.
UPGRADATION OF PSC LABORATORIES Looking to the testing
needs of the powerloom weavers and worlds exporters, particularly after
the German ban on the use of certain Azo Dyes in fabrics, which are suspected
to be carcinogenic, the Government have undertaken a massive upgradation/setting
up of testing laboratories under the Textile Committee, TRAs and PSCs.
Accordingly, 14 PSC laboratories have already been upgraded till 1998-99
at the cost of Rs.1043 lakhs. Another 16 PSC laboratories are proposed
for upgradation during 1999-2000. The remaining PSC laboratories will be
taken up in the next two years at a cost of Rs.244 lakhs.
COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN CENTRES To facilitate the creation of new designs, improve the designs and production in the fast changing global tradition in fashion, the Computer Aided Design(CAD) system plays a vital role. The fabric simulation technique available with this system helps create fabric-like appearance on the computer screen without actually going in for various colour combinations and weaving of sample cloths. The simulated fabric design could be sent for approval of the buyer/consumer before large scale production, thereby saving time and money. This can also be stored, retrieved and altered very quickly depending upon the design and size. Manual design and card punching takes more than 15 days, whereas this system reduces the time to a day or two. The initial cost of CAD system, though high, pays off in the long run as CAD replaces the time consuming and labour intensive manual card punching method. Competitiveness also increases as CAD enables them to respond quickly to changing fashions. Considering all these
aspects, the Ministry of Textiles has so far sanctioned 19 CAD Centres
under Textile Research Associations and the Textile Commissioner at major
Powerloom concentrated areas of the Country. There is a provision for 20
CAD Centres to be set up during the Ninth Five Year Plan. Out of these
20 Centres, 9 sanctioned Centres have already been set up.
ALL INDIA POWERLOOM BOARD The All India Powerloom
Board (AIPB) was first constituted as an Advisory Body in November, 1981.
This Board was reconstituted on 28/10/98 for a tenure of two years. It
has representatives of the Central and State Governments and federation/association
of powerloom industry as its members. The first meeting of this re-constituted
AIPB was held on 8/1/99, at Mumbai, the second at New Delhi on 21/7/99,
and the third meeting of AIPB was held on 07/01/2000 at New Delhi.
POWERLOOM WORKER’S INSURANCE SCHEME The Government of India have introduced a Group Insurance Scheme for Powerloom workers in association with the Life Insurance Corporation of India in 1992-93. The Scheme was launched with the assistance of State Governments. The Scheme is administered by an "Authority" so designated for this purpose by the State Government. However, overall supervision of the scheme will be with the Secretary in-charge of Powerlooms of the State/Union Territory concerned. The policy covers death due to accident, as incidence of accidents is not insignificant in the powerloom sector. All powerloom workers aged between 18 to 60 years and those who have worked during the year shall be eligible for insurance. For the purpose of regular work, a weaver who has earned atleast a minimum average pay of Rs. 700/- per month during a year is eligible to join the scheme. Every member of a family who satisfies the above eligibility conditions can be covered under the scheme. The annual premium shall be shared equally by the Central Government, State Governments and the powerloom worker. For an insurance coverage of Rs. 10,000/-, the annual premium is Rs. 120/-. The contribution of Government of India is channelised through the State Government on a reimbursement basis. During the year 1995-96, the Ministry of Textiles has released the Central share to the State Governments to the extent of Rs.27,61,680/- covering 68,992 workers. During the year 1996-97, the Government have released Rs.8,86,040/- covering 22,151 workers and during the year 1997-98, a sum of
Rs. 14,5,760/- was released by the Ministry of Textiles towards Centre’s
share covering 3,644 workers. In view of the poor response from the State
Governments, the scheme is being re-examined in order to activate the State
Governments participation and to improve coverage under the scheme.
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