Handloom industry was one of the ancient and the most important industries in terms of employment in India. The protective and developmental measures adopted after independence and the inherent strength enabled the industry to survive several crisis and play a meaningful role for several decades. However, the contemporary development is that the industry is on the decline. At the same time, a major boost to production and export is being contemplated by the central government. In this context, this paper attempts a reality check on what is happening to the industry at micro level with reference to the handloom industry of Kannur district, which was an important centre for production and export of handloom cloths in the country. The panel data of sample based study of handloom units of the district in 1977-78 and 1990, an in-depth study of Edakkad village of Kannur district in 2017 where handloom industry provided sustenance to a majority of workers and secondary data formed the basis for the study.

It is noted that the district's industry dominated by the private sector underwent organizational changes and the shift was from factory-based production organization to more disorganized production organization. By 1970 there were three tiers of units undertaking work on sub-contract below the former factory units. Still, the industry was at its zenith of glory in the 1970s as Kannur crepe was a hit in the western markets. However, later the industry weakened and is now on the decline. While the problems of the industry are well documented an examination of the specific reasons for the steep decline of the industry of the district reveals that low wage and acute labour scarcity, the unviability of operation of sub-contracting units, unforeseen financial loss due to natural calamity and loss of segmented markets as some of the problems of the region. The industry's decline is not a regional issue but is state and nationwide phenomenon. In this scenario, it is open to doubt whether the handloom industry can be geared to make a quantum jump in the production of cloths as currently envisaged by the central government. 

Introduction

The handloom industry of Kannur is centuries old. It was also the most important industry of the district as it provided livelihood to the vast majority of the population in many villages in the past. The impeccable quality, elegant designs, characteristic weaving and policy support of the government enabled the industry not only to survive and develop even when faced with several adversities. The 1970 - 80 decade is distinct in the history of Kannur handlooms being at the pinnacle of glory. However, later evidence indicates that the industry weakened and started declining in the following decades. In fact, in a village of the district where handloom weaving was the mainstay of the majority of workers in the 1960's the industry is now almost extinct. Paradoxically the central government has recently constituted a Working Group to submit a blueprint for doubling the production of handloom products from the level of Rs. 60000 crores to Rs. 120000 crores and raise the export of handloom products from Rs. 2500 crore to Rs. 10000 crores in three years (Malayala Manorama 2021). In this context, a reality check on the industry's current status assumes significance. This paper is an attempt in this direction as on examining briefly the important development phases of the industry in the district, portrays the course of development of the industry in a village stretching for about six decades from 1960 and briefly comment on the prospects of the industry in the country.

The data

The study is with reference to primary and secondary data. For an in-depth study the Edakkad village of Kannur district was selected. There were a few reasons for the selection of the village. In the economic and employment structure, the handloom industry dominated and provided sustenance to majority of workers in the village in the 1960's. Further, a detailed description of the handloom industry, the socio-economic conditions of handloom households, and the village's overall social and economic structure in the early 1960's was available in the village monograph published by the Census organisation. The report provided materials for depicting the status of the industry in the 1960's. A study covering various aspects of the industry of the district was conducted in 1977-78.[1] For the study, five panchayats, including Edakkad panchayat [2] with the highest handloom concentration, were selected. A sample of 182 units of the selected panchayats were selected by stratified random sampling method to cover various size classes of units in terms of looms and categories such as private and cooperative sectors. By periodic personal visits, the operational details of the sample units for one year were collected in a questionnaire. The same units were revisited in 1990 to assess the changes.[3] In 2017, we conducted a study on the socio-economic conditions of the population and economic structure of Edakkad village for which 281 sample households were systematically selected and interviewed on personal visits with a questionnaire.[4]  An enumeration of all household and non-household enterprises of the village was also conducted. Being a native of the village, the author witnessed the developments in the village stretching for about six decades from the 1960's and better placed to collect reasonably accurate data. The relevant findings of these studies are cited to portray the course of development of the handloom industry. Thus primary surveys, the village monograph, and visual observations were supplemented by secondary data and detailed field-level discussions.

Origin and development of handloom industry

In the region, weavers were traditionally Chaliyas. Though there are several versions as to the origin of the Chaliya community, the people in the region claim that they are the descendants of Salya, the Sage (Superintendent of Census Operations 1966). The childless Sage prayed to God Siva for children, and God appeared with two children in his two hands. The one on the left hand was the forefather of Edangai (leftist faction) and the one on the right side Valangai (rightist faction). These two factions, which are found in many parts of east coast communities, exist only among the Chaliyas of the west coast. Evidence indicates that the Indian cotton export flourished in ancient India (Buch 1979:11). On the importance of the industry in the region and its distinct features Renaudot, an ancient writer, commented, "in Calicut (Calicut and Kannur previously belonged to the Malabar region) garments are made extraordinarily that nowhere else are the like to be seen. They are most part mound woven with degrees of fineness that it may be drawn through the ring of a middling size" (Krishnamoorthy O S 1971:72). Marco Polo, who travelled extensively through Asia in 1290 AD, stated that many households in this part used to prepare cloth with the help of family members using rudimentary tools. This home-based activity changed by the middle of the nineteenth century with the entry of Basel Mission in the region. The Mission in 1844 brought frame looms from Germany and established a few handloom factories in the region in 1852. The social reform movements initiated by Sree Narayana Guru and the activities of Vakbadananda led to the gradual adoption of industrial activities by other communities, predominantly the Thiyyas (Other Backward Community) as workers and owners of units (http//:dsource.in/resource/land-looms-and-lore-Kannur/introduction). Thus, the owners of units consisted of the Chaliya community followed by the Thiyya community and they started establishing factory-type units in the district. There were units with more than 300 looms in the district in the past. Implicitly the small household units co-functioned with large factory-type units. A setback to the factory-based production occurred with the passing of the Factories Act in 1948. The fixation of minimum wage in the nineteen fifties further weakened the factory-type organization and paved the way for disorganization of production. By the late 1960's the process was more or less complete as statutory regulations were enforced strictly in the case of traditional industries. Accordingly, over the year's factory-based production declined, and in its place, many small and tiny units emerged for production of handloom cloth. Apart from labour unemployment, this opened avenues for exploitation of the labour. The Kerala State Handloom Development Corporation was established in 1968 to bring under its fold the unemployed weavers and arrest the exploitation of labour. Notwithstanding this, the private sector factory units dismantled the main production activities. As observed in the 1977-78 study, three tier decentralized units executed the main activities of winding, warping, and weaving handloom cloth in the private sector. At the top are former factory units, some of them exporting units. The units gather production orders directly from abroad or canvass orders through exporting houses based in major Indian cities or commission agents. The main production activities in-house are maintained peripheral, some of them in developing sample cloths to explore markets. The bulk of the orders are passed on to scattered units with a sample cloth or as semi-processed raw materials, mainly dyed yarn. Under them work many units, some units with facilities from dyeing of yarn to cloth weaving, some units with only warping, winding and weaving facilities and others with only small pirn winding and weaving. The last category is very tiny units, mostly home-based, gathering work from the second category. In suitable form, work orders are made available. Many second category units also organized production on their own by canvassing orders through commission agents. Most of the last two categories were former factory workers induced by the factory owners to set up their own units by offering looms and accessories free or at nominal cost. They gave up the factory job under the illusion of becoming owners of handloom units. Thus over the years, a four-tier decentralized production organization came into existence.

Even in this fluid state, the industry witnessed a major boom by the late 1960's with the introduction of a product called Kannur crepe (the fabric with a crimp appearance). It was a hot cake in the western countries and brought about unprecedented prosperity. In the history of development, the industry was at the zenith of glory. The de-centralised production units further expanded the production base. Some new units emerged to meet the export demand leading to the acute shortage of labour and pronounced wage rise. Several workers shifted from other traditional industries to handloom weaving. The margin enjoyed by the units was also high, and all industry stakeholders shared the prosperity. This also led to the expansion of hotels and restaurants, transport, construction, demand for consumer items etc. This developmental effect was felt in several other handloom areas including the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, as work orders were passed on to them by establishing links. This was also a strategy adopted by the main units to arrest wage rise. Thus, the Kannur handloom industry, dominated by the private sector[5]  in the 1970 decade came to occupy a much more pivotal role in producing and exporting handloom products. It is estimated that accounting for hardly 2 percent of total handlooms of the country (Estimate's Committee 1977-78:211), Kerala rolled out nearly one tenth of the total handloom output of the country (Indian Institute of Foreign Trade 1975:195). The estimated export was nearly third of the total handloom exports of the country (Nair 1977). Kannur accounted for a large share as the district accounted for 44.60 per cent of total looms in the state in 1976 (Directorate of Handlooms 1976:85-86) and is estimated to have contributed 98 percent of total handloom exports of Kerala (http//:filmingindi.com/blog-post/Kannur-the-handloom-city-of- Kerala-India/). The district's estimated daily output of handlooms was placed at 5 lakh meters daily then (District Planning Office 1980:44). Kannur taluk has the largest concentration of looms and units within the district. The Taluk accounted for 46. 29 percent of handloom units and 56.67 percent of total looms of the district (Directorate of Handlooms 1976:85-86).[6] Implicitly most of the production and export of Kerala originated from Kannur taluk. The major products of the area are exported to UK, USA, Germany, Italy, and France. The Kannur handloom product even figured in the bedspread collection of the US President (Times of India 2014). The town figured as one among the four export centres of India besides Karur, Panipat, and Varanasi in the country. The Kannur town also once came to enjoy Town of Export Excellence of Government of India (filmingindi.com/blog-post/Kannur-the-handloom-city-of- Kerala-India/).

To some extent, the institutional infrastructure facilities set up in the area enabled the industry to emerge into prominence. As early as the 1960's a Polytechnic with a textile technology course and a cooperative spinning mill were set up. In 1968 the Kerala State Handloom Development Corporation came into existence with headquarters in Kannur. Many weavers were brought under cooperative fold by promoting several primary cooperatives societies with an apex body known as Hantex. Setting up two industrial-type cooperative units with all in-house production facilities in Kannur Taluk was a unique venture. The Institute of Handloom Technology and a Weaver's Service Centre were other notable institutions functioning in the Taluk. However, the tempo of growth the industry could not sustain as in the later decades, the industry started declining.

The decline of the industry

To depict the declining trend, first we consider the result of our panel data of 1977-78 and 1990. The data revealed, out of 182 functioning sample units in the 1977-78 study, 44 private sector units (24.18 percent) in 1990 were reported as closed permanently, and the marketable assets were disposed of or the woods were used for other purposes. Three fourths of units were closed in the post-1980 decade. All closed units belonged to the dependent category. In the working units also there was a decline in the number of looms. Among the working units, the decline in loom was 23.64 percent. Though all categories of private units reported a decline in looms, the largest decline in looms was among the second and third tier categories undertaking piece works. In the cooperative sector, the decline in looms was very marginal, 0.86 percent. Among the factory units, on average, 15.6 looms per unit declined. The declining trend is further evidenced by our village-specific study.

In the economic structure and employment of Edakkad village, the handloom industry dominated in the nineteen sixties. The Kuttikkakom desom of the village was mainly a Chaliya theruvu (street) as there was a large concentration of handloom units and weaver households. It was one of the important handloom centres of the district historically, as many units within and outside the village were provided with work orders by a few large units of the area. On all Saturdays afternoon, the accounts were settled, and heavy crowding took place in the area giving the impression of a festival. A temporary market also functioned on the day. In addition, there were units dispersed throughout the village, mainly owned by Ezhava community. Thus the murmurings of the shuttles were audible everywhere in the village in the daytime. Most of them were private individual units. The size of the units in terms of employment ranged from more than 100 workers to only two or three persons. As per the 1961 census, out of 52 handloom units in the village, 22 provided regular employment to 10 or more persons, 24 between 5-9 workers and others less than 5. A few households controlled the industry. The large units sub-contracted works in a suitable form to small units. Units employing 1 or 2 looms operated within the premises of the houses were hardly better than wage earners. Most of them were fly shuttle looms, and very few pit looms were reported. The chief products of the village were coloured lungis, shirting, very fine varieties of bedspreads, and furnishing cloths. The products were able to withstand the competition of mill products and found markets even outside the state and country. Some of the products enjoyed great demand among the plantation labourers of Bengal and Assam. In marketing, the commission agents acted as intermediaries. In the industrial sector, nearly three fourth of the income of the village was generated by the handloom industry. In different capacities, the handloom also employed about 50 per cent of the total workers of the village (Superintendent of Census Operations 1966:127). By the middle of the nineteen fifties, two handloom cooperative societies were set up, and one was the industrial type cooperative unit with 127 looms. Also, the Institute of Handloom Technology and the Polytechnic was established in the village.

The industrial profile of the village in the district in 1961 attests to the dominance of the handloom industry (Table 1). Observably, the handloom industry accounted for 55.32 per cent of total units, followed by tobacco products 21.28 per cent and cotton spinning 9.57 per cent. Altogether the textile related and tobacco industries (mainly beedi industry) dominated, accounting for 86.17 per cent of total units.

 

Table 1: Industrial profile of Edakkad village in 1961

Type of industry	No	%
Food processing	2	2.13
Edible fats and oils	3	3.19
Tobacco products	20	21.28
Cotton spinning	9	9.57
Handloom	52	55.32
Textile garment	3	3.19
Hardware, engg.          products	1	1.06
Jewellery	4	4.26
Total	94	100.00

Source: Superintendent of Census Operations (1966:136)

In this background, if we look at the later developments of the industry, the evidence indicates that the decline of industry in the village was accelerated. Even in 1977-78 it was observed that only one factory unit functioned in the village and all exporting units were located elsewhere. By 1996 beedi rolling emerged as dominant in employment, accounting for nearly three-fifth of total employment, followed by power loom units and a steel mill (Table 2). The handloom industry turned out to be of peripheral importance employing 4.29 percent of total workers. The plight of handloom cooperatives too ran parallel as while one weaver's cooperative society winded up the activity, the other industrial-type cooperative unit considerably downsized the handloom production. In our 2017 Edakkad village study, we did an extensive search for handloom units. It was found that the handloom activities have become almost extinct as we could identify only two units, one each in the private and cooperative sector. The private sector unit operated five looms, and the same was working for the Khadi Board. In the surviving industrial type handloom cooperative unit, only five looms were working, and thus in effect, in the entire village, only 5 handlooms were producing cloth. Further from the listing of establishments of the village, it was found that there were 81 industrial units, out of which two were handloom units. None among the workers of our sample households belonged to the handloom industry. Manifestly handloom industry that provided sustenance to most village workers in the nineteen sixties is almost extinct now.

Table 2: Distribution of units and workers by nature of industry in 1996

Type of industry	No of units	%	No. of workers	%
Flower mills	14	5.02	14	0.90
Powerlooms	93	33.33	161	10.31
Handlooms (private)	1	0.36	5	0.32
Handloom cooperatives	1	0.36	62	3.97
Hosiery	9	3.22	20	1.28
Welding	9	3.22	30	1.92
Workshops	7	2.51	98	6.27
Leather	2	0.72	40	2.56
Steel company	1	0.36	85	5.44
Beedi rolling centres	119	42.65	925	59.22
Others	23	8.24	122	7.81
Total	279	100.00	1562	100.00

 Source: Edakkad Panchayat (1996:21)

Reference