The handlooms and textiles sector has huge potential and especially Assam is a big producer of handlooms with ingenious designs. With the Government of India and the Assam Government laying emphasis on lending a helping hand to the sector, people engaged in handlooms seem to get a new lease. Manish Kumar Jain, CEO, Pragjyotika Enterprise said, “The people of Assam should feel proud that the Prime Minister of India wears the Assamia Gomosa on several occasions.
There is a lot of scope in the northeast in the handloom sector. It is creating rural employment and resulting in women empowerment. There are so many schemes which are coming up from different ministries under handloom textile and skill development. We can create lots of employment. We should use technology in handloom as the technology can help us to reduce the cost of production. There are so many techniques and technologies which we are manufacturing.
S Bandyopadhyay, Director, Weavers Service Centre, Ministry of Textiles, Guwahati said, “Every state has one weaver service center. In a few states we don’t have but the states missionaries are there that are working. We have seen that weavers require skill updation and capacity building programmes. Not only for the average viewing process but definitely change the upmarket and the quality products. We are preparing a syllabus and now at present days we are providing such jobs under weaving, dying design and printing.
Dr. Sandhya Ravi, Professor and Principal Nitte School of Fashion Technology and Interior Design Bengaluru was of the opinion that handloom is completely a skill oriented subject and government has come up with so many skills and policies that definitely will help all of you to become an entrepreneur. Handlooms of India are loved very much. Secondly, India is very popular for our design culture and for the color combinations.
We need to understand the consumer requirement which can be done only by the market survey. Since handloom is a skill oriented subject, I would urge all the students of northeast to look at the course because this will definitely be a job opportunity and give you a chance to work with the comforts of your house. So that gives you the flexibility to take care of your family as well as take care of your business and be self-reliant and independent.
Sanjib Sabhapandit, Proprietor Vibgyor Enterprises Guwahati, Assam said, “In the northeast weavers are mostly women and our focus is to create smooth energy efficient handlooms which actually gives you good productivity and makes it easy for viewing. We put things in such a way we could maintain the quality. We try to make life easier and the government also is supporting us.
The session was moderated by Dr. Swapna Mishra, Chief Operation Officer & Officiating CEO Textile Sector Skill Council New Delhi
