Bangladesh carrying out handloom census

Bangladesh government is launching a handloom census to help revive the country's handloom industry. The handloom census 2017 will be carried out across the country with government spending of Tk 80 million. The census is aimed at taking an overview of the sector, identifying problems, counting people involved in the sector and increasing production.

The main objectives of the census are to observe overall situation of the sector, identify its problems and possibilities, count people involved with the sector and promote the sector for increasing the production capacity.
The census will also gather information on handlooms, ownership, demand for handloom products, working and permanent capital.

The government has prepared a scheme for overall development of the handloom sector. It is now in the process of launching the scheme, Mohiuddin Ahmed, deputy director of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and focal point officer of the proposed census, told a leading Bangladesh daily.

"We are going to conduct the handloom census 2017 after 14 years," he was quoted as saying.

There are over 0.88 million handloom workers, of them, about 0.41 million are female while 0.47 million are male, according to the Planning Commission. There are over 0.5 million handlooms in the country, according to the handloom census of 2003.

Value addition by the handloom sector to the national economy stands at Tk 12.27 billion. It meets over 40 per cent of domestic textile requirements, accounting for 63 per cent of textile production. The handloom industry meets the demand for saree, lungi, bed sheet and napkin, the report said.

The handloom industry, which is a major source of earnings for many rural people, is passing through hard times. Due to low wage coupled with lack of capital, handloom weavers are struggling for survival and switching to other professions, officials said, according to the report.

About 0.129 million handlooms were closed down (made inactive) over the last three decades due to fund crisis, the report said.

Major handloom products are jamdani, benarasi, Tangail saree, handloom cotton saree, lungi, silk saree, napkin, check fabrics, tribal fashion wear, Monipuri fashion garments, and Rakhine special wear, according to Bangladesh Handloom Board.