Industry associations here have stressed the need for a new handloom policy to stimulate the sector.

In a statement issued here today, the Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) Chairman S Dinakaran has said that the Handloom (Reservation of Articles for Production) Act, 1985 lost its relevance in a liberalised scenario and there was therefore a need to repeal this Act and invoke a new Handloom Policy, more relevant to the present times.

“The policy should showcase the Indian handlooms as testimony to our rich cultural heritage,” Dinakaran reiterated, adding, “the support should not be in the form of crutches for the sector but as a stimulant to make the sector vibrant and self-reliant. It should also provide for preservation and exclusiveness of hand-woven intricate designs of handloom fabrics.”

The Sathyam Committee recommended doing away with the Handloom Reservation Act. It also observed that weavers producing unique and exclusive value-added items with intricate designs and improvised technology could not be replicated in any other mode of fabric. It would be produced by the handlooms even in the absence of the Act.

The unrealistic Handloom Reservation Act has only been curtailing the liberal growth of the weaving and decentralised power looms sector for decades apart making clothing expensive and limiting the standard of living of the handloom weavers, alleged Dinakaran.

The Reservation Act, 1985, incidentally covers eleven textile items of fabrics under the handloom reservation order.

A close perusal of the list revealed that most of the items are product categories rather than specific products.

> revathy.lakshminarasimhan@thehindu.co.in

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