Are handlooms and powerlooms the same? According to Minister for Textiles Baburao Chinchanasur they are.
This reply came in response to a query raised by Arun Shahapur (on behalf of Halappa Achar) during Question Hour in the Legislative Council here on Wednesday. Drawing his attention to a newspaper report in which handloom activist Prasanna has alleged that Mr. Chinchanasur had joined hands with the powerloom lobby, Mr. Shahapur sought an answer from the Minister.
Justifying his contention, the Minister said, “Both handloom and powerloom are same. Earlier they used hands to operate the looms and now they are using electricity”.
However, when Mr. Shahapur sought to know what the new textile policy said about the handloom development, Mr. Chinchanasur just said the new policy would facilitate the development of both handlooms and powerlooms.