Weaving the Magic
I feel convinced that the revival of hand-spinning and hand weaving will make the largest contribution to the economic and the moral regeneration of India. The millions must have a simple industry to supplement agriculture. Spinning was the cottage industry years ago, and if the millions are to be saved from starvation, they must be enabled to reintroduce spinning in their homes and every village must repossess its own weaver.
(Young India,21–7–1920)
The above was reflective of Mahatma Gandhi’s opinion that neglect of homegrown textiles had forced India into pauperism. The call to make Khadi an icon for the independence movement derived its origin in this thought.In 1917 Champaran Satyagraha movement, Gandhiji first encountered the plight of the farmers in Bihar. During a discussion with a woman from Bhilwara, he realized that she was unable to change her sari daily, simply because she did not possess another. The plant which is the source of indigo dye for clothing was the central issue of the Champaran Satyagraha, and the same cloth was tragically out of the reach of those very farmers. The past was glorious on account of cotton cultivation, exports and related handicrafts.This very base was exploited by the British.
The Historical Context
From 1600–1757, the East India Company was engaged in exports of Indian products, especially textiles to Britain at a handsome profit. Naturally, they opened more and more markets for Indian goods abroad.Thus, they took every measure to increase the Indian exports.This is the major reason that despite tensions, most Indian rulers had tolerated and even encouraged the Company.
The British, however, had always been envious of the immense popularity enjoyed by the Indian textiles in their markets. As Daniel Defoe, the author of Robinson Crusoe had once complained that Indian cloth , ‘has crept into our houses, our closets, our bed chambers, curtains, cushions, chairs, and at last our beds themselves were nothing but calicos and Indian stuff.’ The British manufacturers put pressure on the government to restrict the sale of Indian goods in England. By 1720, a law had been passed which forbade the wear or use of printed or dyed cloth. In 1760 a woman had to pay a fine of 200 pounds on account of possessing an imported handkerchief! Other heavy duties were also imposed across most European countries with the exception of Holland.
Despite this, the Indian textile industry held its own on grounds of superior product quality and a strong internal market.
This was set to change post mid eighteenth century because of two factors- political expansion of British in Indian subcontinent and the Industrial Revolution in Britain.
Post Battle of Plassey in 1757, the East India Company had the monopolistic control over trade in Bengal. They firstly eased out their competition, both Indian and foreign and forced the agriculturists to sell them raw materials at lower rates, sometimes even at a loss. Moreover, the weaver had no autonomy over his labour. He had to work at the rates offered by the British, for the British.This began the slow stifling of the vibrant textile industry.
At around the same time Industrial Revolution had taken roots in England. Spearheaded by the industrialist class on the basis of inventions of Hargreaves, Crompton, Wright etc, capitalistic ideology advanced further.Factories were established across Europe and economies of scale, unimaginable before, came into being. The interests of the manufacturing class, lay now, not in abolishing Indian imports, but of maximizing the market for British industries, both on their soil and the Indian one. For this, they had to feed their Lancashire mills with raw material, the most convenient source for which was the colonies. Thus through a series of Charter Acts from 1793–1813, the power of East India Company was gradually stripped of its power to accommodate the British manufacturing classes.Through simultaneous political expansion of territory, which paralleled the augmentation of market growth, the comparatively cheaper British textile replaced Indian ones, thus crippling the nation economically and politically. As RC Dutt points out in his famous work of 1901- The Economic History of India, ‘The efforts of the Parliamentary Select Committee of 1812, was to discover how they(Indian manufacturers) could be replaced by British manufacturers, and how British industries could be promoted at the expense of the Indian industries.’ Despite the fact that exports grew nearly 700 times in the second half of the eighteenth century, the Indian weavers hardly benefited as, alongside, import duty to the tune of 67.5% for Indian cotton and 37.5% for Indian muslins came to exist. Certain land revenue adjustments were done, especially to ensure that the British finished could be afforded by Indians, but that was a limited window, as the rates were mostly fixed at a higher scale. The Indian weaver thus lost both ways.
Sustainability Value of the Indian Textiles in Present Scenario
The Indian textile industry has several potential strengths- huge employment generation capacity, contribution to trade and exports, ensuring inclusiveness, and environment conservation.
Employment Potential
The sector currently employs more than 5 crore people directly, and another 6.7 crore people in allied sector like cotton and jute farming, sheep rearing, textile machinery etc. As per Annual Survey of Industry 2013–14, the ‘wearing apparel except fur apparel’ manufacturing sector has a potential of 56 per crore rupees investment, and 19 in knitted and crocheted apparel.(Contrasting this figure with 39 of paper products, 18 in electric components, 2 in motor vehicle segment, highlights the significance).Cumulatively, it employees roughly 21% of the labour force.
Contribution to Trade and Exports
Undeniably, this sector has made significant contributions in terms of foreign earnings and is one of the mainstays of the economy. Around 27% of foreign exchange earnings are on account of exports of textiles alone.This industry contributes 24% to world spindle capacity and 8% to world rotor capacity.With a contribution of 14% to industrial production and 4% to GDP, all round development of this industry has a direct bearing on the improvement of India’s economy.
The main challenge in achieving the targeted $300 billion in export sales( a compound annual growth rate of 20%, the current global rate being 5%) by 2024–25, is capturing an improved export market space.Over the last decades, the apparel and manufacturing industry had shifted to China largely. However China’s cost advantage has been neutralised to some extent due to increase in labour wages and a decreasing demographic dividend. If the textile sector were to become a smaller part of the Chinese economy, which is transitioning to higher skilled jobs in manufacturing and service sector, a new phase in global textile trade will be triggered. It is crucial for India to capture this vacated market space. However, the competitive advantage that India had in terms of low labour cost has been slowly eroding in face of competition from countries like Bangaladesh and Vietnam that not only offer skilled labour, but also at cheaper rates.Other countries like Malaysia, Ethiopia, Cambodia, and African nations are capturing the space ceded by China at a faster rate than India, largely because of the preferential trade agreements signed by them with developed economies like EU, Canada and Australia.
Work needs to be done on this front to better market position.
Inclusive Approach
Aside from its job creation role, this sector is seamlessly aligned with government initiatives on women empowerment. It is estimated that women constitute about 70% of the workforce in apparel sector. The sector also provides jobs to millions of under privileged sections in the society by giving them means of stable income and an opportunity of raising their standards of living. Most people in deep, rural pockets of the country who cannot afford or do not have access to quality education facilities, can be accommodated in the textile sector, as an entry level job here requires a nominal training of 3–4 weeks only. Two sector skills council- Textile Sector skills Council, and Apparels, Made-Ups and Home furnishing Sector Skills Council, have been set up for creating an enabling environment. The Integrated Skills Development Scheme has trained approximately 15 lakh of the workforce in FY 2016–17.
Get Surabhi Trehan’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Carbon Footprints Advantage
Unlike synthetic textiles, which emit 1/20th of global green house gases, handwoven Indian textile sector has the advantage of being organic and completely carbon neutral. This makes it fundamentally more relevant in the contemporary times, and should be promoted as the yarn of future.
Accelerating Growth in Indian Textiles
The Indian Textile Industry is one of the few truly vertically integrated industry- from farm to fashion.This aspect has been aptly leveraged to expand market shares in the past. However technological obsolescence has hurt the growth. Modernization(which actually is a continuous process), needs to be integrated more to upgrade the production,and utilizing inputs more effectively.As a long term strategy, the industry needs to divert sufficient resources for this.
Channelizing Investments
The Government of India had heralded the first major investment drive in this direction through the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme(TUFS),in 1999. Till 31–3–15, approximately 2715 billion rupees to the tune of 79% of the total investment in textile sector had been made through TUFS( Source: Wazir Study Report 2014–15). The biggest beneficiary of this scheme was the spinning sector followed by the composite sector. Others like weaving and garmenting lagged behind, remaining weak links in the textile value chain, leading to its unbalanced growth.
A quantum shift from one level of growth trajectory to another level is further being facilitated through the Ammended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme- ATUFS, which was brought into effect on 13th January , 2016, and through the Research and Development Schemes of the Government, where full support is given to basic research, 70% in case of applied research, and 60% support in case of research contracted by the industry. The support is given to University and Research Institutions, including the Textile Research Associations(TRAs) who in case of applied and contact research have industry tie-ups.
Further a 6000 crore package for employment generation and export promotion in the textile sector has been announced.
Credit linkages developed with the formal sector through MUDRA schemes and the Credit Guarantee Fund of NABARD. Although, the end use monitoring of funds under this scheme needs to be followed rigorously to ensure a qualitative change and prevent non-productive leakages.
Employee Welfare Schemes
For a sector which employees the second largest share of populace after agriculture, welfare for the stakeholders involved has to be structured for continuing of the incentives, especially as most workers belong to low income strata of the society.
Broadly categorized under following heads, the measures are:-
1) Power Loom Sector- The Group Insurance Scheme(GIS) for textile weavers was launched in July 2003 and has continued under the 12th plan.It provides for:- 60000 in case of natural death, 150000 in case of accidental death and permanent disability due to accident and 75000 in case of partial disablity due to accident.Besides an Educational Assistance Scheme for a grant of 2400 for two children from 9th to 12th standard also exists. The weaver contributes 80 out of the annual premium of 470. Under the Textile Weaver Rehabilitation Fund Scheme, interim relief is provided in case of partial or full closure of a textile unit or any part of it.
2) Handloom Sector- The Mahatma Gandhi Weaver Insurance Scheme(MGBBY) is similar to the GIS of power loom sector.There is also a Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana(RSBY), a health insurance scheme for insurance cover of 30000 to hospitalized patients.
Restructuring Policies to better Market Performance
The Government has rightfully handheld the textile sector, leading to not just its survival but also its resurgence.However, there are certain stifling policies, which restrict the sector from performing to its maximum possible potential in the free market area. For instance the Jute Packaging Materials(Compulsory use in Packing Commodities Act), 1987, although gave a tremendous support to the jute industry, yet it was this very act which restricted the jute sector from diversifying its products adequately and becoming more streamlined as per market needs.As the act provided for jute sacking(B-Twill) to be of mandatory use in packing foodgrains, the industry hardly branched into manufacture of other products or had any incentive to better the quality of jute crop through research and innovation. The result was that the Indian Jute Industry saw a downward trend in growth, ceding even domestic space to better and less expensive products from Bangladesh, which till 2012 did not have any protective act.
The Technical Textiles- sporttech,meditech,geotech etc, which are valued for their performance functionality and unique structural attributes, are a relatively nascent sector. Policies like Scheme for Growth and Development of Technical Textiles(SGDTT), Technology Mission on Technical Textiles(TMTT), to provide research and development facilities for HS codes, through Centres of Excellence, and Plug and Play model, need to be encouraged so as to enable India to use its strong technical foundation to becoming a global player in this highly lucrative sector.
Reinvention of textiles is also the need of the hour. For this purpose National Institute of Fashion Technologies have started a closer association with traditional weavers to understand their craft and help them gauge the present market and fashion trends for greater sale potentials.Social media trends like #I wear handloom and #100 saris should be popularized for inducing market behavioural changes.The India Handloom Brand is a step in the right direction for high lighting the visibility of the handloom products.Textile clusters through Schemes for Integrated Textile Parks like the ones set up in Palladam and Vishakhapatnam, provide for streamlining the production chains for ease of doing business.
Also, country specific trade pacts need to be negotiated to provide our textile industry with global market access. The Brexit,is interestingly a great opportunity to develop deeper textile trade linkages with Britain, which in turn has the potential to be a window for greater penetration in the European markets.There is also a substantial scope for growth in Latin American countries which have become less competitive domestically and are trying to reduce their overdependence on China. India enjoys a preferential trade agreement with Mercosur and Chile, yet India’s share of markets is only 1% and 4% for for apparel and home textiles, lower than China’s and Mexico’s.
Others like Israel and Turkey, which are dependent on imports for finished garments and Canada, which has a huge demand for technical textiles should be areas of focus to negotiate trade pacts.
The Magic that never ceases to amaze
The Indian textiles are not just a drab structure of the warp and weft. The fluid charm of the famed Chanderi, the eye catching motifs of Kanjeevaram and Orissa Ikat silks,the delicate delight of the Kantha, the simple allure of the Maheshwari, the energy of the Bandhani,the boldness of Phulkari, the royalty of Pashmina, and the soothing enticement of the the intricate Chikankari( a personal favourite),truly is intangible. They together represent the cultural continuity of India.Their intrinsic value lies not in their quantitative contributions to exports and GDP, but their aesthetic and cultural value. They have evolved and draped the history of the subcontinent. They are an inextricable part of our identity, and the least we can do is acknowledge that fact.
