Smriti Irani, Sadhguru call for revival of hand weaving industry

Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani on August 7 appealed to the big brands to come together with the weavers and to source their cloth directly from them. This will help bring together the collaboration that was long absent, she added. In a online conversation with Sadhguru, Smriti Irani also spoke at length about how they are planning to make the handloom products a hit among the younger population of India.

Sadhguru, founder, Isha Foundation highlighted that it was important to bring back the hand weavers in a ‘big way’ as weaving as a industry was one of the biggest employers in the country second after agriculture. “We have all gone machine made. Most of the Indians do not know that we have a fantastic heritage of evolving variety of textiles. No culture or nation has come up ever with so much variety of textiles,” Sadhguru said. 

Smriti Irani said that in the handloom segment, India exports and provides services to the 90% of the world’s handloom market. Irani, who was awarded the Young Global Leader from India by the World Economic Forum in March 2015, stated that weaving was not only limited to the loom but showed the life of a certain community.

Speaking on how they can make the handmade cloth more acceptable, Irani said that they have been in contact with the youth and are trying to understand their thought on the hand made cloth. “While some say it is harsh on the skin, others opined that the colors fade away too soon,” Irani brought forward the concerns of the youth.

“Under the India Handloom Brand, we have over 1800 products registered, about 184 product categories to be precise,” Irani said.

The Minister for Textiles and Women and Child Development said that they are ensuring to create tourism opportunities around the crafts and handloom villages.

On the 6th National Handloom Day, the Textiles Ministry announced ten crafts and handloom villages in the country, with collaboration with the state government to attract tourism. In Himachal Pradesh, a village named Sharan was selected as one of the Craft Handloom Village.