Aatma Nirbhar Bharat celebrates National Handloom Day, read to know its significance

By Vinayak Heliwal

National Handloom day 2020 is celebrated on 7th August to honor the hard work and skills of handloom weavers and to create awareness about the importance and benefits of the handloom industry in the social growth of the country. On the Occasion of the sixth edition of National Handloom Day, the government promotes for ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’ and urges people to support local handmade items.

The National Handloom Day is celebrated on 7th August every year as a way to celebrate the Swadeshi Movement. The Swadeshi Movement had also been launched on the same date in 1905 and the day is celebrated to protect the heritage and to empower people working in uplifting this sector.

The sixth edition of national handloom day will be celebrated virtually with a launch of a mobile application and a backend website to inject pride in the weaving society.

A handloom is a loom used to weave fabric without using any electricity and is performed on pit looms which are usually located in weavers home. The handloom industry copes up with the basic human requirements and provides jobs in both rural and urban areas which helps in the contribution of GDP growth. The handloom sector approximately contributes 15 percent of the country ‘ s clothes production.

On the eve of National Handloom Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to his twitter and shared a video with a proud message, “On National Handloom Day, we salute all those associated with our vibrant handloom and handicrafts sector. They have made commendable efforts to preserve the indigenous crafts of our nation. Let us all be #Vocal4Handmade and strengthen efforts towards an Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”

Handloom has now become a part of our daily life especially in the COVID times where homemade masks are being preferred.