Dhriiti-THE COURAGE WITHIN

Organization Action Component

Submitted By

Bibhudutta Patra (25066)

Organizational Traineeship Segment

(PRM 2004-2006)

Submitted to
Dhriiti-THE COURAGE WITHIN
June-July, 2005

Institute of Rural Management, Anand

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 Acknowledgement

I am thankful to IRMA and our OTS coordinator Prof Jayant Negi for giving me this opportunity
of doing my OTS in Assam. It is a really an enriching experience staying in Assam for nine
weeks. During my stay I got a lot of help and support from different government offices and
people. Therefore I am very much grateful. My words will not be sufficient to express my
sincere gratitude for their hospitality and support. I would also like to express my sincere thanks
to my faculty guide Prof Arvind Gupta for his guidance before venturing upon and after
completion of the project too. My reporting officer Arindam DasGupta, Manabendra Pathak (a
founding member of Dhriiti) and Gyanendra Pathak (field officer) helped me in contacting
villagers and government offices. Without them I may not be able to complete the project to my
satisfaction.
Last but not the least I would like to express my thankfulness to God for giving me the courage
and belief to undertake my OTS in Assam.

Bibhudutta Patra (25066)

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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

I. Project Title: Feasibility study of a handloom cluster in Barpeta district of Assam

II. Organization: Dhriiti-THE COURAGE WITHIN
III. Reporting Officer: Mr. Arindam DasGupta
IV. Faculty guide: Prof. Arvind Gupta
V. Students’ Name: Bibhudutta Patra (25066)
VI. Objectives:
• To examine whether setting up a handloom cluster in Barpeta is feasible or not.
• If yes, what should be the institutional form of the cluster.
• What should be the scope of Dhriiti’s intervention in terms of activities and
various stages in the value chain of the Handloom Sector.

VII. Methodology:
To meet above objective, the information was collected through the direct discussion
and semi structured interviews with the entrepreneurs at the individual level and with
cooperative, trust and NGOs at the group level. It also included the discussion with
the villagers of Barpeta district. Apart from that, there were data collections from the
government office level and also discussions with the different government officials.

VII. Scope of Study:

The findings are derived after intensive field visit in four districts of Assam i.e
Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Barpeta and Kamrup districts. The findings also reflect the
insights of successful NGOS, cooperatives, individual entrepreneurs in handloom
sectors in the four districts.

VIII. Major Findings:

Findings include overall understanding of the existing value chain in the Handloom
sector in Assam starting from raw materials (cocoons, yarns, dyes, sizing materials,
design cards and loom accessories) in terms of availability and price to the finished
products. My study also covered operating cycle, market and demand for the products
w.r.t. geographic regions and seasons, margin in each product and supporting agencies
role.

IX. Conclusions and Recommendations:

It is feasible to set up a handloom cluster purpose by forming cluster, organizing,
marketing, giving finance and design support in Barpeta district.
There are two options a) to start a new cluster from the scratch b) to give market
support to existing clusters in and around Barpeta district and asking the expert
operating group (NGOs/Trusts) to form a new handloom cluster in Barpeta.

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 Table of Contents

List of figures e
List of Tables f
1.0 Backgrounds: 1
2.0 Objective: 1
3.0 Methodology: 2
4.0 Scope of the study: 2
5.0 Limitations: 2
6.0 Feasibility study and Cluster approach: 2-3
7.0 Handloom Sector in Assam: 3-4
8.0 Present handloom scenario in Barpeta district: 5
9.0 Value Chain and stake holder in Handloom industry: 6-7
10.0 Raw Materials: 7-9
11.0 Finished Products: 10-11
12.0 Different types of looms: 11 -12
13.0 Case lets: 12-16
14.0 Support services : 16-18
15.0 Markets: 18-19
16.0 Response from the village survey: 19
17.0 Why handlooms cluster Feasible in Barpeta? 19-21
18.0 Recommendations: 22
19.0 Other options: 23
Annexture: I -VII
References: VIII

List of Figures

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 Sl. No. Names of Figure Page No.

Figure-1 Value Chain and stake holder in Handloom industry 06

Figure-2 Muga Silk and Eri Silk Value Chain 07

Figure-3 Suggested Model 22

List of Tables

Sl. No. Names of the tables Page No.

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Table:-1 Silk yarn price 08
Table:-2 Cotton yarn price 09
Table:-3 Wool yarn price 09
Table:-4 Polyester yarn price 09
Table:-5 Finished Products 10
Table:-6 Price Chart of end products 11
Table:-7 Illustration 20
Table:-8 Silk production in meter and its prices I
Table:-9 Raw silk production in Assam I
Table:-10 Raw silk production in Barpeta district I
Table:-11 Caste wise distribution of weaver households II
Table:-12 Caste wise number of complete household looms II
Table:-13 Number of different kinds of loom II
Table:-14 Number of commercial and domestic looms III
Table:-15 Number of men, women and children engaged in weaving activity III
Table:-16 Status of Fulltime handloom weavers III
Table:-17 Households classified by number of complete looms owned III
Table:-18 Quality parameters and production rates for Dhotis IV
Table:-19 Quality parameters and production rates for Lungies IV
Table:-20 Quality parameters for other Furnishing materials IV
Table:-21 Technical Details for Other Finished products V
Table:-22 Clothes used by different tribes in Assam VI