The historic city of Bhagalpur in Bihar, often in the news for the wrong reasons, figured in the Lok Sabha on Thursday when Bharatiya Janata Party member Shahnawaz Hussain sought to draw the government’s attention to the pitiable condition of weavers there.
“The jacket you are wearing is made of Bhagalpur silk,” he told Deputy Speaker Karia Munda, who was in the Chair, even as he pointed towards Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, who was also draped in a saree made of Bhagalpur silk.
Responding to supplementaries during question hour, Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran said the government was actively considering a loan waiver scheme for weavers on the lines of the farm loan waiver programme. The proposal was with the Finance Ministry and was under active consideration, Mr. Maran said.
He said the government launched a health insurance scheme for weavers which was availed of by 17 lakh weavers last year. This year 18 lakh weavers availed themselves of the scheme, he said.
However, the Minister admitted that the handloom sector was under serious threat as traditional weavers were transiting to the modern sector, as happened in any developing country of the world. He said the Ministry proposed to develop a mega cluster for the handloom sector at Varanasi where weavers would have common facilities for dyeing, designing and related infrastructure.
Mr. Maran said silk was a growing sector in India and there was a shortfall of silk. It was with this in mind that the Centre was actively considering making the Textile Ministry the nodal agency for importing silk.