Book English 2011.p65 - Ministry of Textiles

annual report 2010-11CHAPTER XVITEXTILES IN NORTH EASTERN REGIONTextiles and textile based activitieslike handlooms, handicrafts,sericulture and jute, continue to beNorth Eastern Region's main source ofemployment and income generation afteragriculture. The region's woolen & silkfabrics including the exclusive eri silks aswell as cane/bamboo based crafts havenow become popular not only in thecountry but also abroad on account oftheir uniqueness, quality and designs.However, production of textile items on acommercial scale is restricted, with theresult that they cater largely to a localmarket only.Recognizing the immense potential thatthe region has in handlooms, handicrafts,sericulture and jute based products andhas striven to facilitate their developmentby formulating and implementing variousplan schemes.HANDLOOM SECTORNorth Eastern Region has the highestconcentration of Handlooms in the country.60% (16.8 lakh out of 27.8 lakh) of thehandloom weavers households is locatedin the North East. Of the 43.3 lakhhandloom workers, 49.88% are located inNER. Like wise, of 23.77 lakh handlooms,65.2% (15.5 lakh handlooms) handloomsare located in the region. However, 61.6%looms reported in NER are domestic.The Weavers' Service Centres, set up atGuwahati, Agartala and Imphal, functionas the Nodal Centre for development ofdesigns and dissemination of informationto the weavers in the region about thebreakthrough made in the handloomtechnology. The IIHT set up at Guwahati,caters to the requirements of the handloomsector for technically qualified manpower.A special dispensation has been made forthe North Eastern States under theIntegrated Handlooms DevelopmentScheme. In respect of these States, thegrant portion towards Basic Inputs of thescheme is shared between Centre, StateGovernments and the implementingagencies in the ratio of 90:5:5 respectivelywhereas for General States, it is in theratio of 70:20:10 respectively.During the year 2009-10, under theIntegrated Handlooms DevelopmentScheme (IHDS), 21 Clusters weresanctioned in the NER and a sum ofRs.6.42 crore were released, which alsoincludes second installment of earliersanctioned projects. 68 Group ApproachProjects were sanctioned and a sum ofRs.7.22 crore was released, which alsoincludes second installment of earliersanctioned projects.Financial & Physical Progress under IHDS:General States and NER during 2009-10(Table 16.1)Table 16.1(Rs. in crore)Amount Released Number of Clusters Number of GroupApproach ProjectsGenl. NER Total Gen. NER Total Gen. NER TotalStates State States State States State92.82 22.75 115.57 31 21 52 343 68 411255