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CHAPTER IV Powerloom INTRODUCTION: The decentralized powerloom sector plays a pivotal role in
meeting the clothing needs of the country. Production of cloth as well as generation of employment
have been rapidly increasing in the powerloom sector. This sector not only contributes
significantly to the cloth production in the country but also provides employment
to millions of people. The powerloom industry produces a wide variety of
cloth, both grey as well as processed with intricate designs. The
contribution of powerloom sector to the total cloth production of the country
is to the extent of 59.15% and it
contributes significantly to the export earnings of the country. GROWTH IN THE POWERLOOM
SECTOR The estimated number
of powerlooms in the decentralized sector in the country at various stages
till 31st December, 2000 was as under:
(Source : State Govts & UTs) PRESENT POLICY RELATING TO
INSTALLATION OF POWERLOOMS In terms of Textile (Development & Regulation) Order, 1993,
every person on installing the powerlooms in the SSI sector should submit an
Information Memorandum in a prescribed form to an officer, notified in this
behalf by the State Government within whose territory the powerloom has been
installed, with a copy thereof to the Textile Commissioner, Mumbai, and every
person on installing any powerloom in non-SSI (other than units requiring
Industrial Licences), should file an Information Memorandum to the Textile Commissioner,
Mumbai, within 30 days of installation for obtaining an acknowledgement
thereof. POWERLOOM SERVICE CENTRES There are 13 Powerloom Service Centres (PSCs’) functioning under
the O/o the Textile Commissioner and 29 PSCs functioning under the different
Textile Research Associations (TRAs) namely ATIRA, BTRA, MANTRA, NITRA,
SASMIRA, IJIRA & SITRA. One
PSC at Hyderabad is also established under the administrative control of
State Govt. of Andhra Pradesh w.e.f. 6/3/99 and another at Jabalpur under the
aegis of the Govt. of Madhya
Pradesh which has started functioning from 15th June, 2000. PERFORMANCE OF POWERLOOM
SERVICE CENTRES During the year 1999-2000, the 13 PSCs run by the Office of the
Textile Commissioner, trained 1091 persons, developed 806 new designs and
tested 5542 samples. They have also organized 50 number of exhibition,
seminars and workshops. Other 31 PSCs, viz. 29 PSCs run by TRAs and 2 PSCs
run by State Agencies have trained 972 persons, developed 2081 designs
including new designs on CAD systems and tested 44102 samples. They have also
organized total 100 exhibition/ seminars/workshops. MODERNISATION AND
STRENGTHENING OF EXISTING PSCs The powerlooms in the PSCs are very old and outdated. The looms and
equipments in the PSCs and the machinery existing in the industry in the area
do not match. In such
circumstances it becomes very difficult to attract people from that area for
training. Taking into consideration the ground realities, the expectations of
the powerloom industry and the need for the thrust on technological
upgradation in the industry, the modernisation and strengthening programmes
of the Powerloom Service Centres has been taken up. The Government of India
has approved the modernisation and upgradation proposal for 21 PSCs (7 under
TX.C and 14 under TRAs) during 9th Five Year Plan period with an estimated
cost of Rs. 16.09 crore, with components of assistance for capital
expenditure of Rs. 12.73 crore and for recurring expenditure of Rs. 3.36
crore. The Ministry has so far released Rs. 591.60 lakh during the last
year for modernisation of loomsheds of Powerloom Service Centres. The Implementation Committee has
already been set up for the purpose of Modernisation and Strengthening of PSCs. This process is expected to be
completed during the 9th Five Year Plan period. UPGRADATION OF PSC
LABORATORIES Ministry of Textiles had also decided to upgrade the existing
laboratories in the PSCs so that the decentralized powerlooms sector entrepreneurs
could get the modern testing facilities in their nearby areas itself. For this purpose, seven TX.C. PSC at
Erode, Surat, Burhanpur, Malegaum, Amritsar, Kishangarh and Belgaum have
already been upgraded. Seven TRA
PSCs at Panipat, Bhilwara and Meerut (under NITRA), Ichalkaranji (under
BTRA), Salem and Dodballapur (under SITRA) and PSC Bhiwandi (under SASMIRA)
have also been upgraded so far and an amount of Rs. 1069.47 lakh have already
been spent. This programme is being continued. COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN
CENTRES So far 17 Computer Aided Design Centre (CADC) at Coimbatore,
Karur, Komarapalayam and Somanur (Tamil Nadu), Surat and Ahmedabad (Gujarat),
Solapur, Ichalkaranji and Bhiwandi and Mumbai (Maharashtra), Bhilwara
(Rajasthan) and Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), Bangalore and Dodballapur
(Karnataka), Burhanpur and Indore (M.P.), and Panipat (Haryana) are
established in the country. The
Implementation Committee set up for modernisation and strengthening of the
PSCs has been entrusted to study the feasibility of new centres as well as
strengthening of existing centres.
The up-linking and downlinking of two CAD Centres (Panipat - NITRA and
Solapur - BTRA) with NDC, New Delhi on experimental basis is under progress. ALL - INDIA POWERLOOM
BOARD The All-India Powerloom Board was first constituted as an
Advisory Body in November 1981.
This Board was reconstituted on 21-12-2000 for a period of two
years. It has representatives of
the Central and State Govts. Powerloom Federation / Association of Powerloom
industry, as its members and is headed by the Hon’ble Union Minister of
Textiles as the Chairman. The
Union Secretary (Textiles) and the Textile Commissioner are the Vice Chairman
and Member Secretary respectively of the AIPB. The Board advises the Government on the powerloom related
matters. Last Meeting was held
on 10.6.2000 at Chennai. POWERLOOM WORKER’S
INSURANCE SCHEME Govt. of India has introduced a Group Insurance Scheme for
powerlooms weavers / workers in association with the Life Insurance Corporation
of India since 1992-93. Under
this scheme powerloom workers aged between 18-60 years and earning a minimum
average pay of Rs. 700/- p.m. can join the scheme. There is no restriction of number of members from each
family. Any number of members
from a particular family who are powerloom workers and falling within the
eligibility criteria can avail of the benefit under this scheme. The annual premium of Rs. 120/- is shared equally by the
Central Government, State Govt and the concerned powerloom worker. The total
insurance cover is for an amount of Rs. 10,000/- for death under normal
circumstances. In case of death
due to accident, an amount of Rs. 20,000/- is paid to the family of the
member in addition to the accumulated amount in the member’s running account
payable with the interest @ 11% per annum. During 1999-2000, a sum of Rs.
2.90 lakh had been released.
WORKSHED-CUM-HOUSING
SCHEME Most of the weavers are socio-economically backward and live in
degraded conditions. An
improvement in their work place is an important infrastructural support for
the weavers. Keeping this in
view, the Workshed-cum-housing scheme is under preparation. |
