Published on May 19, 2006
Hyderabad: Gorgeous sarees of half-a-dozen ethnic varieties, woven by about 30,000 handloom workers in Andhra Pradesh, will be submitted to the Central Government’s Textile Committee for Geographical Indication (GI) registration soon.
The GI registration proposed for six varieties of Gadwal, Narayanpet, Venkatagiri, Dharmavaram, Uppada Jamdhani and Gollabhama will afford them the protection already extended to Pochampally Ikat variety in December 2004.
‘‘If there is a danger of imitation and copying and affecting the survival or existence of traditional weavers, the Government can seek GI registration for them,’’ officials of the Handlooms and Textiles department told Express. According to them, the proposals would be sent to the Delhi-based Textile Committee, which would conduct public hearings and meetings besides eliciting the opinion of various authorities.
The GI registration is granted after the officials are convinced that these six varieties are in danger of being imitated by power loom! s and bi g textile mills. ‘‘It will take a little more than a year for completing the process,’’ the officials explained.
At present, the officials of the AP Technology Development Services and Textiles department are conducting a survey on the half-a-dozen traditional varieties, they added.
While the Gadwal sarees are unique for their weaving technique (obtaining solid pallu by piecing the threads of different materials), the traditional Dharmavaram sarees, which are similar to Kanchipuram sarees, are woven with golden zari for extra warp/weft designs in borders, body and pallu. The Uppada Jamdhani sarees unparalelled in artistic skill where the designs intermingle with the basic plain ground weave and are produced by weavers of Kothapalli village in East Godavari and Venkatagiri in Nellore district.
The exquisitely woven Narayanpet and Venkatagiri sarees are the most sought after by women in the State.
However, there are few takers for Gollabhama variety, mainly due to change in consumer taste. This was developed by weavers in Siddipet, due to change in the taste of the consumers.
Since no sales tax is levied on handloom cloth and garments, the department is also planning to set up exclusive apparel and handloom parks with latest equipment at Chirala, Mangalagiri and Mahboobnagar utilising the budgetary allocations made by the State Government and also with Central funds, the officials said.
1 comment:
I do not think GI registration does protect handloom sarees from imitations, copies and fakes. The principal threat to handloom market share is the selling of powerloom products as handloom, and the negligent attitude of government officials towards any regulation of the same. Both consumers and weavers are troubled by this, unbridled business.
GI registration so far has not ensured the continuance of livelhoods for Pochampally weavers. Every month, tens of families are searching for alternative livelhoods. In Choutuppal, which has a cooperative with 600 weaver members, more than 30 weavers are selling wares on the roadside. They love their profession to the current occupation. But, the conditions in handloom sector are not conducive for them to depend on handloom production. Incidentally, Pochampally is the first handloom variety to have got GI registration, along with Kota in Rajasthan. However, so far, after three years, situation is becoming worse with powerlooms producing similar products and selling as handloom. Handloom Reservation Act, a better regulatory tool than GI Act, is not being enforced by the government, despite Supreme Court directions almost a decade back. No funds are allocated for the enforcement machinery. The Handloom Mark scheme, announced by Dr. Manmohan Singh, with huge publicity, has merely fetched money for the Textile Committee. Handloom Mark still remains unregistered, and with no budgetary allocations, the efficacy of this scheme is in serious trouble.
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