India 2018

350 India 2018
e- Dhaga App: Govt of India launched Enterprise Resource Planning System
(ERP) and e-Dhaga mobile App in 2016 to bring efficiency in service delivery to
the handloom weavers and help them to access information on 24x7 basis. The
App is available in 10 languages-Hindi, English, Assamese, Odiya, Kannada,
Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Urdu and Bangla.
BunkarMitra Help Line: To provide a single point of contact to handloom
weavers for their professional queries "BunkarMitra" -Helpline 18002089988
for handloom weavers was launched in 2017. This service is available from
10:00 AM to 06:00 P.M on all 7 days in a week in seven languages: Hindi, English,
Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Kannada and Assamese.
MoU with Financial Corporations: MOU was signed with National Backward
Classes Finance Development Corporation (NBCFDC) and National Schedule
Castes Finance Development Corporation (NSFDC) to implement schemes of
Government of India for OBC and SC artisans and weavers in 14 identified
clusters with necessary forward linkages for income sustainability and
enhancement.
Educational facilities to the children of handloom weavers: Memorandums of
Understanding was signed with Indira Gandhi National Open University
(IGNOU) and National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) to provide
customized educational service to the weavers for which Ministry provides
75% of the fee in case of SC, ST, BPL and Women weaver families.
Artisan Helpline No 1800 208 4800 was launched in 2017 in seven
languages -Hindi, English, Kannada, Assamese, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu.
Hastkala Sahyog Shivirs: 394 Hastkala Sahyog Shivirs for handloom weavers
and handicraft artisans were organized in 2017 in 248 districts across the country.
About 94000 weavers and artisans participated in those Shivirs. Various
activities such as disbursal of MUDRA loan, supply of looms ,accessories and
tool kits to weavers and artisans, issue of Pehchan ID Cards, yarn passbooks,
enrolment of family member of weavers under IGNOU and NIOS , awareness
programmes on GST, GI, Bunkar Mitra helpline and about the schemes of
Handlooms and Handicrafts Departments of the Government were organized
in the shivirs.
Silk
Raw silk production increased from 28,523 MT in 2015-16 to 30,348 MT in 2016-
17 registering increase of 6.4 per cent growth. The import substitute bivoltine
silk production has increased from 4613 MTs to 5266 MTs registering an increase
of 14.16 per cent. Vanya silk production has increased from 8045 MTs to 9075
MT showing an increase of 12.8 per cent. Muga silk has recorded highest ever
production of 170 MTs and has set a new momentum of growth.
Cotton
Cotton is one of the most important cash crops in India and the country accounts
for around 25 per cent of the total global fibre production. In the raw material