India celebrates 5th National Handloom Day today

New Delhi: Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani will preside over a function here on Wednesday to mark the 5th National Handloom Day, which will be celebrated across the country.

The main event will be held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

"Bhubaneswar has been chosen as the venue for the main event due to its rich tradition of Handlooms. More than fifty per cent of total weavers population of India resides in eastern and north eastern regions and most of them are women.

"The prime objective of holding the National Handloom Day in Bhubaneswar is to empower women and girls," an official statement said.

Several activities will be undertaken all across the country on the occasion, including distribution of Pehchan Cards and Yarn Passbooks, distribution of MUDRA loan and distribution of lighting units and certificates for construction of work sheds.

The National Handloom Day will be observed at Weavers' Service Centres in different states.

The National Handloom Day is observed annually on August 7 to honour the handloom weavers in the country and also highlight India's handloom industry. It seeks to focus on the contribution of handloom to the socio-economic development of the country and also increase the income of weavers.

The union government had declared August 7 as the National Handloom Day in July 2015 with the objective of generating awareness about the importance of the handloom industry to the socio-economic development of the country.

The August 7 date was chosen as the National Handloom Day to commemorate the Swadeshi Movement which was launched on this day in 1905 in Calcutta Town Hall to protest against the partition of Bengal by the British Government. The movement had aimed at reviving domestic products and production processes.