Study of Socio-Economic Status of Women Engaged in Handloom Weaving and Measures For Enhancing Their Sustainability

Craft of handloom weaving is an exclusive preserve of the women of Assam, the north eastern state of India; perhaps this is one sector, where women are involved in both production and marketing. The objective of the study was to capture socio-economic status of women weavers in Assam and also to identify the measures that would enhance sustainability of handloom industry in broad perspective. The study covered women handloom weavers from three categories namely, independent weavers; government financed weavers and weavers employed in factories. Workshops were conducted with each group of weavers to demonstrate measures such as value addition, product diversification to enhance their sustainability.

The study revealed that majority of weavers had low level of education. Economic contribution enabled them a place in the decision making process within the family as well as in the society. The weavers, across all the categories were open to implement the suggestions to enhance their sustainability. The study found majority of the handloom weavers live in poverty below poverty line facing severe livelihood crisis. Proper interventions in the areas of exposure to the Government schemes, skill and design development, raw material, up gradation of production and marketing process will certainly elevate the socio-economic condition of the weavers and enhance sustainability of their profession. Handloom being labour intensive, less cost effective (as compared to power looms), hand-woven products alone cannot become economically viable in today's competitive market unless there is value addition, product diversification to justify the value of a hand-woven product.