ANNUAL REPORT 2000-2001 -- POWERLOOMS

(Source : State Govts & UTs)

PRESENT POLICY RELATING TO INSTALLATION OF POWERLOOMS
In terms of Textile (Development & Regulation) Order, 1993, every person on installing the powerlooms in the SSI sector should submit an Information Memorandum in a prescribed form to an officer, notified in this behalf by the State Government within whose territory the powerloom has been installed, with a copy thereof to the Textile Commissioner, Mumbai, and every person on installing any powerloom in non-SSI (other than units requiring Industrial Licences), should file an Information Memorandum to the Textile Commissioner, Mumbai, within 30 days of installation for obtaining an acknowledgement thereof.

POWERLOOM SERVICE CENTRES
There are 13 Powerloom Service Centres (PSCs’) functioning under the O/o the Textile Commissioner and 29 PSCs functioning under the different Textile Research Associations (TRAs) namely ATIRA, BTRA, MANTRA, NITRA, SASMIRA, IJIRA & SITRA. One PSC at Hyderabad is also established under the administrative control of State Govt. of Andhra Pradesh w.e.f. 6/3/99 and another at Jabalpur under the aegis of the Govt. of Madhya Pradesh which has started functioning from 15th June, 2000.

PERFORMANCE OF POWERLOOM SERVICE CENTRES
During the year 1999-2000, the 13 PSCs run by the Office of the Textile Commissioner, trained 1091 persons, developed 806 new designs and tested 5542 samples. They have also organized 50 number of exhibition, seminars and workshops. Other 31 PSCs, viz. 29 PSCs run by TRAs and 2 PSCs run by State Agencies have trained 972 persons, developed 2081 designs including new designs on CAD systems and tested 44102 samples. They have also organized total 100 exhibition/ seminars/workshops.

MODERNISATION AND STRENGTHENING OF EXISTING PSCs
The powerlooms in the PSCs are very old and outdated. The looms and equipments in the PSCs and the machinery existing in the industry in the area do not match. In such circumstances it becomes very difficult to attract people from that area for training. Taking into consideration the ground realities, the expectations of the powerloom industry and the need for the thrust on technological upgradation in the industry, the modernisation and strengthening programmes of the Powerloom Service Centres has been taken up. The Government of India has approved the modernisation and upgradation proposal for 21 PSCs (7 under TX.C and 14 under TRAs) during 9th Five Year Plan period with an estimated cost of Rs. 16.09 crore, with components of assistance for capital expenditure of Rs. 12.73 crore and for recurring expenditure of Rs. 3.36 crore.
The Ministry has so far released Rs. 591.60 lakh during the last year for modernisation of loomsheds of Powerloom Service Centres. The Implementation Committee has already been set up for the purpose of Modernisation and Strengthening of PSCs. This process is expected to be completed during the 9th Five Year Plan period.

UPGRADATION OF PSC LABORATORIES
Ministry of Textiles had also decided to upgrade the existing laboratories in the PSCs so that the decentralized powerlooms sector entrepreneurs could get the modern testing facilities in their nearby areas itself. For this purpose, seven TX.C. PSC at Erode, Surat, Burhanpur, Malegaum, Amritsar, Kishangarh and Belgaum have already been upgraded. Seven TRA PSCs at Panipat, Bhilwara and Meerut (under NITRA), Ichalkaranji (under BTRA), Salem and Dodballapur (under SITRA) and PSC Bhiwandi (under SASMIRA) have also been upgraded so far and an amount of Rs. 1069.47 lakh have already been spent. This programme is being continued.

COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN CENTRES
So far 17 Computer Aided Design Centre (CADC) at Coimbatore, Karur, Komarapalayam and Somanur (Tamil Nadu), Surat and Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Solapur, Ichalkaranji and Bhiwandi and Mumbai (Maharashtra), Bhilwara (Rajasthan) and Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), Bangalore and Dodballapur (Karnataka), Burhanpur and Indore (M.P.), and Panipat (Haryana) are established in the country. The Implementation Committee set up for modernisation and strengthening of the PSCs has been entrusted to study the feasibility of new centres as well as strengthening of existing centres. The up-linking and downlinking of two CAD Centres (Panipat - NITRA and Solapur - BTRA) with NDC, New Delhi on experimental basis is under progress.

ALL - INDIA POWERLOOM BOARD
The All-India Powerloom Board was first constituted as an Advisory Body in November 1981. This Board was reconstituted on 21-12-2000 for a period of two years. It has representatives of the Central and State Govts. Powerloom Federation / Association of Powerloom industry, as its members and is headed by the Hon’ble Union Minister of Textiles as the Chairman. The Union Secretary (Textiles) and the Textile Commissioner are the Vice Chairman and Member Secretary respectively of the AIPB. The Board advises the Government on the powerloom related matters. Last Meeting was held on 10.6.2000 at Chennai.

POWERLOOM WORKER’S INSURANCE SCHEME
Govt. of India has introduced a Group Insurance Scheme for powerlooms weavers / workers in association with the Life Insurance Corporation of India since 1992-93. Under this scheme powerloom workers aged between 18-60 years and earning a minimum average pay of Rs. 700/- p.m. can join the scheme. There is no restriction of number of members from each family. Any number of members from a particular family who are powerloom workers and falling within the eligibility criteria can avail of the benefit under this scheme. The annual premium of Rs. 120/- is shared equally by the Central Government, State Govt and the concerned powerloom worker. The total insurance cover is for an amount of Rs. 10,000/- for death under normal circumstances. In case of death due to accident, an amount of Rs. 20,000/- is paid to the family of the member in addition to the accumulated amount in the member’s running account payable with the interest @ 11% per annum. During 1999-2000, a sum of Rs. 2.90 lakh had been released.

WORKSHED-CUM-HOUSING SCHEME
Most of the weavers are socio-economically backward and live in degraded conditions. An improvement in their work place is an important infrastructural support for the weavers. Keeping this in view, the Workshed-cum-housing scheme is under preparation.