Thalagune handloom textile village gets revival touch

Irangika Range

HANDLOOM INDUSTRY: Handloom textile manufacturing which is one of Sri Lanka's traditional industries would be promoted under State sponsorship to increase the demand for local handlooms.

Textile Industry Development Minister Jayatissa Ranaweera, on his visit to a traditional handloom textile village in Thalagune, Udadumbara,on Saturday said that the Government has understood the importance of protecting the industry.

It will assist weavers who have been struggling over the last couple of decades to improve their living standards.

The Thalagune village is famous for weaving "dumbara rata" and it has a 300 year old history, which originated from the "Kuveni Generation".

"Most of the villagers' main income avenue is weaving of handloom textile products. They are proficient in using their best artistic talents and produce decorative creations called "Dumbara Rata" to the export market. But we all are aware that local weavers are undergoing great hardships in producing handloom textile," he said.

Considering the request, the Ministry provides new handloom weaving machines to weaving units at the village. The Minister granted Rs. 170,000 worth of new tools for 34 weavers to improve their handloom weaving. He also agreed to grant Rs. 1.2 million to 12 handloom weaving plants in the area to improve the infrastructure facilities focusing to enhance productivity.

He said "Dumbara Rata" has a big demand in the international market. Even though all plants in the village produce their handloom products for the export market, the productivity is not sufficient to meet the demand in the export market due to lack of weavers.

To encourage newcomers to the industry, the Ministry will pay Rs.2000 to each weaver during their training period of six months to sustain them in the industry. He said that the role of the private sector is very crucial to facilitate the Government programme.

Private sector contribution should be appreciated as it creates a demand for high value handloom products through the promotion of exports and creating a value chain enabling the weaver to gain higher profits. "We will facilitate private sector efforts and handloom industrialists' efforts to expand the handloom industry and export by finding more market opportunities," he said.

The Ministry is effectively involved in finding better export markets for the handloom products. "We have obtained two stalls to display local handloom products at the international trade fair which will be held on June 21 and 22 in UK.

"We introduced new technological systems to develop the present weaving machines to get the maximum productivity. Developed machine has been planned in the Handloom Textile Training School in Katubedda and training is being conducted.

Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake said this step would vastly improve the villagers' livedlihood. "We plan to set up a new handloom textile manufacturing village in Hasalaka as well," he said.