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04. NEWSMAKERS |
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Prime Minister unveils Handloom Mark |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
launchd a quality mark for handloom products that will help buyers
distinguish between genuine items diligently crafted by artisans and
the poor imitations mass-produced by power-looms. The `handloom mark',
designed by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, will be implemented
by the Mumbai-based Textiles Committee, a statutory body under the
Ministry of Textiles. |
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To ensure that the scheme is enforced properly, there will be a system
for periodic surveillance audit by teams of officials and random verification
of the products. There will also be a penalty clause. The first part
of the clause will provide for cancellation of the registration for
registered users who misuse the mark. The second part of the clause
provides for action against unregistered persons, which will include
imprisonment ranging from six months to three years and a fine amount
ranging from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 2 lakh. The scheme is expected to not
only help the buyers in getting guaranteed products, but also help
the artisans, who are facing myriad threats to their very survival
with the advent of the power-looms. With technological developments,
power-looms are now able to flood the markets with imitations of handloom
Excerpts from PM’s Speech
Indian handlooms are among our proudest and most enduring civilisational
heritage. The outstanding weaving tradition they represent has been
kept alive by skilled weavers from generation to generation. The handloom
sector, therefore, reflects not only the traditions of the weaving
communities all over India but also the socio-cultural heritage of
our entire nation.
The popularity of Indian handlooms has, since time immemorial, not
only provided employment but has also kept alive our rich heritage
of traditional craftsmanship. The level of artistry and intricacy
achieved in handloom fabrics is unparalleled and beyond the scope
of modern machines. We are all aware that apart from spices, it was
Indian handlooms that attracted traders from Europe in earlier centuries.
Many members of the nobility in the European countries in the seventeenth
century use to take pride in wearing Indian handloom textiles. It
is a testimony to the agelessness of this craft and design that handlooms
are still popular with young and old alike.
Handlooms have a crucial role to play in supporting and strengthening
the rural economy of our country. Apart from agriculture, they are
the largest source of employment in rural areas.
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As many as 35 lakh looms
are in operation today, providing employment to almost 65 lakh persons.
A substantial proportion are women and persons belonging to minorities
and under-privileged classes. Therefore, the contribution of the handloom
sector to textile production, employment and export earnings is significant
not only from an economic angle but also from a larger social perspective
as well.
The government recognizes the primary importance of the handloom sector
in sustaining and providing gainful employment, especially in rural
areas. With the end of the quota regime in global textile trade, the
demand for handlooms may well increase significantly. It is expected
that the domestic and international market for handlooms will expand
and per capita consumption will also increase. However, handlooms
face severe competition from power-looms and manmade fiber. While
changes in the international trading regime have created new opportunities,
they also and pose new threats to handlooms. We need to work hard
to exploit the opportunities for renewed growth that have been created
in developed market economies. The Handloom Mark is one such initiative
to brand our handlooms and secure for them a high value-added niche
market for this highly prized product.
We must evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of our handloom sector
and take steps to ensure that the sector benefits from the more open
trading regime that is now emerging. Handlooms have to be promoted
as a high-value, niche product which are the result of skilled craftsmanship
arising out of a centuries old heritage of our country. This will
give them a premium position in textile markets around the world.
The Government is committed to help handloom weavers meet the challenges
of globalization and modernization. We are aware of the problems confronting
handlooms. The National Common Minimum Programme makes a firm commitment
to ensuring the welfare of the handloom sector, especially the weaving
community. Our initiatives will cover all aspects of production and
raw material supply, design and technical assistance, training and
skill up-gradation, and marketing.
Last October, the Ministry of Textiles, launched a life insurance
scheme for weavers, the Mahatma Gandhi Bunker Bima Yojana, in collaboration
with LIC. I am also happy that the Ministry has launched a Health
Insurance Scheme, in collaboration with ICICI Lombard, to provide
health facilities to weavers and their families. I am happy to learn
that 230 new Yarn Depots will be opened to |
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provide easy access to
yarn for all clusters with more than a thousand looms. Easy availability
of yarn will address one of the most pressing problems faced by weavers.
The handloom sector is characterized by clusters. Our Government recognized
the need for an integrated and coordinated cluster based approach
to the handloom sector and therefore, launched the Integrated Handloom
Cluster Development Scheme last year. Twenty clusters are being developed
at a cost of Rupees two crores per cluster. This year, we will cover
another 100 clusters. In each of these clusters, we are focusing on
quality and design upgradation to improve the marketability of handloom
fabrics. The reversal of the decline in handloom fabric production
after 2004 gives us confidence that we may be able to revive the sector
if we sustain, as we must, our efforts over a period of time. I am
aware that access to credit and cost of credit are two problems facing
the handloom sector. Our Government has taken steps to ease this constraint.
In this years budget, the Finance Minister had announced that a scheme
similar to the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme, which is available
for the machine made textile sector, will be introduced for the handloom
sector. This will provide capital subsidy for looms. I understand
that handloom cooperatives suffer from two problems in accessing credit.
Firstly, the cost of credit is on the higher side. The other is that
credit to handloom cooperatives has been choked because of a debt
overhang. Considering the importance of handlooms, we need to address
these problems on a priority basis. I have asked the Finance Minister
to consider the feasibility of extending the low interest facility
provided for agricultural loans to handloom weavers as well. I have
also asked the Textile and Finance Ministers to look at the problem
of debt which is afflicting handloom cooperatives so that this can
be rescheduled or cooperatives recapitalised in a manner similar to
that done for cooperative banks through the Vadyanathan Committee.
I am hopeful that we will resolve this problem, hopefully, in the
next three months.
The Handloom Mark launched will provide a collective identity to Indian
hand woven products. The Handloom Mark should emerge as the hallmark
of high quality and high creativity. It will be operational throughout
the country. Individual weavers, weavers cooperative societies, master
weavers, retailers and exporters will all benefit from the use of
this Mark. |
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India
to sign pacts with patent offices abroad
The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to sign an agreement
with patent offices across the world to allow patent examiners
to access the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) created
by the National Institute of Science Communication and Information
Resources (NISCAIR) on India's traditional medicine systems.
The signing of the pact is expected to benefit the country immensely
as it could help prevent scientists abroad from getting patents
on various medical remedies that are already known to Ayurveda
and other traditional medicine systems of India. This is because
once the pact is signed, the patent offices across the world
will be obliged to refer to the TKDL to assess whether the remedy
is new or is based on knowledge already available in the Indian
systems of medicines, as and when scientists apply for such
patents. The data relating to only 7,000 formulations each in
Unani and Siddha, and 1,500 postures in yoga remained to be
included and the entire process was expected to be completed
by December next year. The data are being made available in
five international languages ò English, German, French, Spanish
and Japanese. A salient feature of the |
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pact will
be that the patent officeswill be able to use the digital library
only for patent search and examination. The patent examiners
will not be able to disclose the information to any third party
unless it is essential for the purpose of patent search and
examination.
India in World media
News and views on India are the current favourite in the international
media. The cover of a recent issue of Time is titled "India
Inc ò Why the world‚s biggest democracy is the next great
economic superpower and what it means for America". It
depicts a classical dancer wearing a telephone operator‚s
headset. The July/August issue of Foreign Affairs, carries articles
about India, India-US relations, civilian nuclear cooperation
and Jammu and Kashmir, under the title of The Rise of India.
In its cover story the Economist featured a 14-page special
on India, Time magazine and Foreign Affairs, the bimonthly publication
of the Council on Foreign Affairs, also have India as their
cover stories. Another article on the nuclear deal suggests
Washington can win New Delhi‚s cooperation on a range of
issues including the challenges of Iranian proliferation and
Pakistani instability by sealing the deal. In the June 27 issue
of Foreign Affairs an article titled "Will Kashmir
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Stop
India's Rise?" talks about how a settlement is possible
if the US leverages its aid to Pakistan to bring Islamabad and
New Delhi to an agreement.
India’s millionaires on the rise
India‚s millionaire population in 2005 shot up by 19.3
per cent over the past year, second only to South Korea’s
21.3 per cent on world charts. The World Wealth Report, released
by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, says India had 83,000 millionaires
(people with more than $1 million or Rs 4.5 crore in net financial
assets, excluding their residence and consumables).
The rate at which India is producing rich people is hardly surprising,
says the report. It goes on: "Also according to the most
recent Goldman Sachs projections, India has the potential to
become the fourth largest economy by 2025 and the third largest
by 2050, behind only the United States and China."
Worldwide, the number of millionaires swelled by half a million
in 2005 and there were 8.7 million of them, more than New York's
population.
On the top of the charts is the US with a millionaire population
of 2.67 million, nearly a third of the global millionaire population.
Germany, the UK, China, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and Russia,
among others, each have more than 100,000 millionaires. |
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