CENSUS OF INDIA 1961 VOLUME IX MADRAS PART XI-A HANDLOOMS IN MADRAS STATE P. K. NAMBIAR of the Indian Administrative Service Superintendent of Census Operations, Madras 1964 CENSUS OF INDIA, 1961 (Census Report-Vol. No. IX will relate to Madras only. Under this series will be issued the following publications) Part I-A General Report I-B Demography and Vital Statistics. I-C Subsidiary Tables .. Part II-A General Population Tables. II-B Economic Tables. II-C Cultural and Migration Taples. Part III Household Economic Tables. Part IV-A Report on Housing and Establishments. IV-B Housing and Establishment Tables. Part V-A Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Report & Tables). V-B Ethnographic notes on Scheduled Tribes. V-C Todas. V-D Ethnographic notes on Scheduled Castes. V-E Ethnographic notes on denotified and nomadic tribes. Part VI Village Survey Monographs (40 Nos.)' Part VII-A Crafts and Artisans. (9 Nos.) VII-B Fairs and Festivals. Part VIII-A Administration Report-Enumeration } For official use only. VIII-B Administration Report-Tabulation Part IX Atlas of the Madras State. Part X Madras City (2· Volumes) District Census Handbooks on twelve districts. Part XI Reports on Special Studies. A Handlooms in Madras State. B Food Habits in Madras State. C Slums of Madras City. D Temples of Madras State (5,Volumes). E Physically Handicapped of Madras State. F F'amily Planning Attitudes: A Survey. Part XU Languages of Madras State. As indicated in my Preface, tbis survey has been made possible by the experience and industry of Sri K. V. Sivasankaran whose earlier acquaintance with the working of the Co.-operative and Textile Departments has been of immeQse value. I should also place on record my appreciation of the good work done by the following assistants of his: " 1. Sri M. V. Ramanathan, Supervisor. 2. Sri K. Ganesan, Lower Division Clerk. Printing has been ably supervised by Sri K. C. Narayana Kurup, Deputy Superintendent of Census Operations. I wish to place on record my appreciation of the good work done by Messrs Janatha Printing & Publishing Co. (Private) Ltd., in completing the printing of this Volume in good time. Messrs. Klein & Peyerl have also done good work in preparing the blocks for the photographs, maps and charts which are exhibited in this Volume. P. K. NAMBIAR. CONTENTS Page Preface ito iv PART I CHAPTER I The age of Handspun yarn 1 II The new Handloom 6 III Controls 15 IV The All India Handloom Board and the Cess Fund 28 V The Co-operative Movement vis-a-vis Handloom Industry 37 VI Present position of Handloom Industry SECTION I - Number of looms 57 SECTION II -- Classification of looms 59 SECTION IIf - The Handloom weaver 63 SECTION IV - Cost of production of Handloom cloth 71 SECTION V - Production of Handloom cloth 86 SECTION VI - Powerlooms and their impact on handlooms relating to Madras State 94 SECTION VrI - Weavers' castes in Madras 96 SECTION VIII - Raw cott~n 100 PART II Silk Handlooms 104 vi PART III KHADI HANDLOOMS CHAPTER Page I SECTION A - Decline in Hand spinning 125 SECTION B - Birth of Khadi 128 II Khadi production 134 III Khadi producers SECTION A - Government (State K and V.I.B.) Khadi Scheme 142 SECTION B - The Tamilnad Sarvodhaya Sangh (T.N.S.S.) 149 SECTION C - Gandhi Ashram, Tiruchengode 152 SECTION D - Conclusion 154 PART IV ART SILK HANDLOOMS CHAPTER Rayon yarn 157 H Art Silk Handloom Fabrics 163 PART V Woollen Handloom Industry 170 vii STATEMENTS AND TABLES PART-I COTTON HAND LOOMS Page STATEMENT J Compara6ve Prices of Englisb and Indian Yarn 5 II " Export of cloth from and Import of cloth and yarn into India 5 III Progress of the Mill Industry 6 " IV Production of Mill and Handloom cloth upto 1925-26 7 " V Yarn consumption by Mill and Handlooms 8 " VI Total cloth production (1922.to 1938) 9 " VII " Proportion of yarn consumed by Mill and Handlooms 9 VIII " Count - Group - wise consumption of cotton yarn by handlooms 9 IX " Value of Handloom cloth produced in India and Madras 11 X 11 " Monthly income of weavers according to the Fact Finding Committee ., XI Spinners and Weavers as returned in the Census Reports (1871 to 1911) 12 XII " Number of hand weavers and handlooms according to Census Reports in 1900-1901 and 1921 13 XIII 14 " Production of Handloom cloth in the Co-operative Sector in 1960-61 . " XIV Cloth available for internal consumption 15 XV 15 " Quantity of mill cloth imported, exported and supplied to armed forces ,. XVI Prevailing weaving wages for handloom cloth (1940 to 1946) 16 XVII W}1O}esa]e prices of yarn upto 1945 16 " XVIII Wholesale prices of yarn from 1945 to 1948 17 " XIX 17 " Wholesale yarn rates during the second control period XX " Formula for yarn ration in 1945 and 1946 19 XXI Formula for yarn ration in 1947 ... ' 19 " .... XXII 19 " Quantity of yarn required per warp. XXUI 20 " Handloom weaving wages in 1939, 1946 & 1947 XXIV Retail selling prices of handloom cloth in 1939, 1946 and 1947 21 " XXV Maximum weaving wages fixed under the Madras Handloom Cloth " Production (Control) Order, 1947 22 XXVI Production and Exports of Mill cloth " 28 XXVII Exports of mill cloth from India and Japan J " ,. XXVIII Number of weavers' Co-operatives and looms in the Co-operative fold 29 XXIX Credit limits sanctioned and drawn by the Co-operative Sector " XXX Target of production of handloom cloth J30 " XXXI Production of handloom cloth by the Co-operative Sector (1956 to 1959) " '31 XXXII " Export of Handloom cloth. (1951-1960) 5 XXXIlI Sales of Handloom cloth by the Madras Handloom house " I J33 " XXXIV Sales of Handloom cloth in Overseas sales Emporia " XXXV Exports of handloom cloth to traditional and new markets 34 " XXXVI Exports of handloom cloth to United States of America 35 " XXXVII Expenditure incurred by the Madras State out of the Cess Fund 37 " XXXVIII Progress made by the Co-operative Sector 39 " XXXIX Enrolment of looms in the Co-operatives 38 b viii Page STATEMENT XL Average production per loom in the Co-operative Sector 39 XLI Proprotion of average production per loom by the Co-operatives " to normal production 40 XLII Average monthly income per. loom " 42 XLIII Sale of handloom cloth of primary Societies through the Apex Society ~ " XLIV Yarn transaction by the Apex Society " 43 XLV Procurement of handloom cloth by the Apex Society 5 " XLVI Sale of handloom cloth effected by the Appex Society " XLVII Value of handloom cloth sold by the Primary Co-operative in each " }44 Deputy Registrar's Circle XL VIII Quantity of cloth and yarn processed by the Apex Society " XLIX Quantity of handloom cloth calendered in the yarn and cloth proces­ }45 " sing centre, Erode L Progress of housing colonies for weavers " LI Improved weaving appliances supplied to Co-operatives ~46 " LII Expenditure, out of Cess Fund by Madras and Rest of India ") " LIII Production of handloom cloth in the Co-operative Sec~or in Madras " and Rest of India l47 LIV Number of looms in the Co-operative Sector in India, Madras and " Rest of India j LV Looms not registered in the societies selected for special study " LVI Loom not registered in 9 societies selected for special study " "'I LVII Production of handloom cloth in selected societies }-48 " LVIII Average income per loom in the selected societies " ! LVIX Yarn purchase and cloth sale in selected societies " J XL Progress of pilot scheme in Salem District 49 " LXI Production of powerloom cloth in the Co-operatives 50 LXII Pedal looms supplied and active " ] 52 LXIII Number of members enrolled who did not work for the Co-operatives " LXIV Production of handloom cloth and income in collective weaving centres 53 " LVX Progress of Salem Collective Weaving Centre " 54 LXVI Progress of Sankarankoil Collective Weaving Centre J " LXVII Proportion of expenditure for preparatory processes to Gross Weaving " wages in Sankarankoil 55 LXVIII Work done by Industrial Co-operatives selected for Special Study J LXVIX Number of active looms in the Industrial Co-operatives 56 " LXX District-wise number of looms from 1921 to 1951 57 " LXXI District-Wise number of looms from 1954 to1961 " LXXII Estimated number of looms in 1961 " }58 LXXIII Looms classified (Fly shuttle, throw-shuttle and other types) " LXXIV Number of persons per loom in each District " 59 LXXV Proportion of the three categories of weavers 3 " LXXVI Percentage of idle looms (for the State) " J 60 " LXXVII Percentage of idle looms-(District-wise and Category-wise) be 'Page STATEMENT LXXVIII Number of active looms in households of weavers who are members of Co-operatives 61 LXXIX Proportion of the different varieties of cloth produced (according to the survey) 1 LXXX Variety-wise production of handloom cloth compared with previous " surveys ~62 LXXXI Production of hand loom cloth by count-group compared with the Fact " I Finding Committee J LXXXII Consumption of cotton ~y Textile mills " 63 LXXXIII Community-wise details of weavers for the State ... " 5 LXXXIV District-wise details of weavers belonging to different communities 64 " LXXXV Average number of looms per household 65 " LXXXVI . Number of active looms compared with number of handloom workers " according to 1961 census LXXXVII Number of male and female weavers ~66 " LXXXVIII Proportion of males and females in weavers' households 67 " LXXXIX Income of dependent weavers " xC Income of Inqependent Weavers ~ 68 " XCI Income of members of Co-operative Societies " XCII Average monthly income per loom of different classes of weavers J'69 XCIII Income from subsidiary occupation .... 70 " XCIV Income and indebtedness of the three categories of weavers 71 " XCV Charges for preparatory processes 73 " XCVI Cost structure of handloom fabrics 75 " XCVII Percentage of net to gross wages 75 " XCVIII Wholesale yarn rates (1928-1962) 76 " XCIX Price of yarn in 1959 and 1960 76 " C Ceiling (net Ex-mill)"rates for yarn 76 " CI Ceiling rates for yarn compared with wholesale rates 77 " CII Details regarding net Handloom Weaving Wages (from 1939) 77 " CIII Cost of Production (comparative figures for 1927-28 and 1961) 78 " CIV 78 " Cost of production of hand-loom cloth in 1939 """ CV Cost of production per Sq.