The Silk Handloom Industry in Nadia District of West Bengal : A Study on Its History, Performance & Current Problems

Handloom industry provides widest employment opportunities in West Bengal, where 5.8% of the households involved have been found to be silk handloom weavers, which bears a rich legacy. Shantipur and Phulia in Nadia district are the two major handloom concentrated areas in West Bengal. The main objective of this paper is to make a situational analysis of the handloom workers by focusing on the problems of the handloom weavers of Nadia district. The paper briefly elaborates the historical perspective of handloom clusters over this region at the backdrop of the then Bengal. It also analyzes the present crisis faced by the weavers of Phulia and Shantipur region of Nadia district. It makes a SWOT analysis of the handloom industry where strength, weakness, opportunity and threat of the handlooms sector has been analyzed. The paper recommends several measures like awareness campaign, financial literacy programme, SHG and consortium formation, common facility centre, dye house, market exposure to upgrade the present situation of the handloom industry