Smriti Irani has announced the launch of a national helpline for weavers that would also be a census of concerned workmen. She made the announcement at the second National Handloom Day celebrations at Banaras Hindu University. The helpline, to be headquartered at the Ministry of Textiles, will enable weavers to lodge complaints with the minister directly and also give suggestions for development of the handloom sector. The initiatives are meant to further Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s general election promise to help the sector, which includes a large community of Muslim weavers. India has 2.38 million looms engaging 4.33 million people of which 77 per cent are women. In FY15, India produced 7203 million square metres of handloom of which close to a third were exported.
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