Policies should reach beneficiaries, says Parliamentary Advocacy Group on Handloom, Handicrafts

New Delhi [India], April 6 (ANI): The Parliamentary Advocacy Group on Handloom and Handicrafts, consisting of 16 MPs from various political parties, released its first report on Wednesday and suggested several recommendations to extend the benefits of policies to the beneficiaries.
The report was named 'White Paper on Handloom and Handicrafts - Need to decouple from power loom based textile sector'.
The report highlighted how several policies are failing to reach the beneficiaries i.e. the weavers and the artisans.
The recommendation in fiscal measure states that the government should provide Rs 18,00 for 6 months in addition to rations supplied and PDS based on ID cards or certificates by local co-operative societies.
It also recommends that government should locate Rs 500 crore under PM cares fund to compensate for wage loss to weavers, artisans, and craftsmen and to produce area-based products to enhance their earning productivity.
Speaking to ANI, Rajya Sabha MP Amar Patnaik said that the non-delivery of the policies on the ground creates problems for the weavers.
"Most of the policies are not reaching the weavers and the craftsman at the ground level and that creates a lot of livelihood problems for them. This is one problem that came to us during the pandemic," he said.
"Despite the government's efforts such as having e-commerce platforms, I think the right kind of market which I talked about i.e. exports is to be increased and it is to be sold in a niche market. This is what was missing in the current ecosystem. The policies are lacking in this direction," the MP added.
Patnaik further said that the group has taken the opinion of the MPs from all the states and also talked to the weavers on the matter.
"We have taken the opinion of MPs from every state of the country even though they may not have joined actively we have obtained their opinion informally and in many cases, we have also talked with the weavers at the ground level we have talked to people who are at the end of this value chain such as the fashion designers. This is a wide stakeholders consultation," he said.
It says that handloom and handicrafts have to be treated as a part of the creative economy because its main USP is the tradition itself.
The suggested report has been further divided into the short, long and medium-term.
The 16 members advocacy group consists of Dr Amar Patnaik, BJD (Rajya Sabha) convenor, Binoy Viswam, CPI (Rajya Sabha), Fauzia Khan, NCP (Rajya Sabha), Gaurav Gogoi, INC (Lok Sabha), G.K Vasan, TMC (Rajya Sabha), Jaya Bacchan, SP (Rajya Sabha), Mahua Moitra, AITC (Lok Sabha), Prof. Manoj Kumar Jha, RJD (Rajya Sabha), Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shiv Sena (Rajya Sabha), Ranadheer Kanakamedala R Kumar, TDP (Rajya Sabha), Ritesh Pandey, BSP (Lok Sabha), Dr Shashi Tharoor, INC (Lok Sabha), Dr Sasmit Patra, BJD (Rajya Sabha), Sonal Mansingh, BJP (Rajya Sabha), Tiruchi Siva, DMK (Rajya Sabha), Vandana Chavan, NCP (Rajya Sabha).
The report was submitted today to Union Minister of State, textiles, Darshana Jardosh at 2 pm. (ANI)