Socio Economic Conditions of Handloom Weavers – A Study of Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

Handloom weaving is an ancient industry. The handloom industry in India is the flag bearer of ancient Indian history, offering work to 14% poor (second just to farming) & contributing to around 11% share in total textile exports each year. The handloom industry in India has become exceptionally well known due to the availability of different designs of fabrics and the manufacture of garments and dresses, which fills in as the job of millions of weavers utilized in the handloom fragment in India. However, with motorization this delightful hand woven art on looms is at jaws of death. The state of Himachal Pradesh in India consists of around 13500 handloom weavers. In this paper, the socio and economic conditions of the handloom weavers have been presented. The data has been collected from 200 respondents through questionnaires. The data has been analyzed using simple bar diagram on the basis of age, area, religion, caste, educational qualification, type and size of the family, type of occupation, house, ration card, land owned, assets owned, loan status, monthly weaving, purchase of raw material and types of loom. This paper studies the challenges faced by handloom weavers of Himachal Pradesh by giving a complete picture of the handloom industries value chain and influence of tourism and cooperative societies for sustaining growth of handloom demands, particularly districts flooded by national and international tourists. The results reflect that for handloom industry to be sustainable the handloom weavers’ market has to be expanded and organized. Handloom sector plays an important role in state economy.