Low wage coupled with lack of financial help from the government has take a toll on handloom weavers in Bangladesh. They are now forced to shift to other professions. As per the Bangladesh Handloom Board (BHB), the handloom industry which is a major source of earning for many rural people is passing through hard times. Weavers from rural areas are withdrawing from traditional handlooms due to a lack of capital. The picture of the handloom industry is the same in every part of the country. About 0.129 million handlooms were closed down (made inactive) over the last three decades due to fund crisis, throwing over 0.10 million weavers out of employment. Over 11 million people are employed in the handloom industry, which meets nearly 50 per cent of the country’s fabric requirement, the data said.

Insiders feel that value addition by the handloom sector stands at Tk 10 billion. It meets over 40 per cent of domestic textile requirement, accounting for 63 per cent of textile production. The handloom industry meets the common people’s requirements for saris, lungis, bed sheets and the like. There are over 0.5 million handlooms in the country according to the handloom census of 2003. Of the amount, some 0.129 million are outmoded till date, sources said.

As per Hafiz Uddin, General Manager of BHB, the BHB is trying its best to revive the country’s handloom industry by providing microcredit to weavers as per government directive. BHB has started over 50,000 inactive handlooms through ongoing microcredit program.