Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Textiles revealed his plans for the silk industry of Bhagalpur. The Bhagalpur of Bihar is famous worldwide for its distinctive type of tasar silk and coarse varieties of silk fabrics.
The Government of India through Central Silk Board is also implementing Catalytic Development Programme (CDP) in coordination with the Govt. of Bihar, to provide support for development of host plantation, construction of Rearing houses/CRCs/Cocoon storage houses, assistance to Tasar Seed production, support for state Department for strengthening of Eri Farm-cum-Grainages, rearing appliances, establishment of improved cottage basin reeling units, support for hot air driers etc. Under Quality Certification System (QCS) scheme, the Silk Mark Organisation of India (SMOI) organises structured and well planned Silk Mark Expos in various cities across the country regularly and provides a platform to weavers, traders and exporters to showcase and sell their silk products including sarees. Weavers and Exporters from Bhagalpur region also participate in these expos in a big way and get benefited.
For holistic and sustainable development of handloom sector including weavers of Bhagalpur, the Ministry of Textiles, through various schemes and programmes, facilitates marketing of handloom products, infrastructure development, brand building, training and skill upgradation, infusion of new and contemporary designs through design intervention as well as product diversification, technology upgradation, easy access to raw material at subsidized prices and easy credit flow at low interest rate etc. besides providing better health care and life insurance under welfare schemes.
One big handloom cluster, covering 5000 looms and 5 small clusters, covering 300-500 looms, have been sanctioned for Bhagalpur weavers. One Mega Handloom Cluster has also been approved in the budget of 2014-15 for Bhagalpur. Further, Government has setup one Weavers Service Centre at Bhagalpur for providing various services such as skill upgradation, design and product development etc.
