The center abolished All India Power-loom Board after scrapping the All India handloom and Handicraft boards as a foot towards the policy of ‘minimum government and maximum governance’. According to the center “leaner government machinery and for systematic rationalization of government bodies”, it is was a very necessary acting that was needed to be initiated.
The new resolution includes the change in status of the Textiles Research Associations (TRAs) to ‘approved bodies’ which were earlier known as ‘affiliated bodies’ with thw ministry of textiles. The resolution clearly mentions that any disposal, sale, transfer of assets created out of central government grant will require prior specific approval of the ministry of textiles. There eight TRAs situated in different geographical locations of India such as in Coimbatore, Ghaziabad based Northern India TRA, Ahmedabad Textile Industry Research Association, Bombay TRA, Synthetic and Art Silk Mills Research Association in Mumbai, Man-made TRA in Surat, World Research Association in Thane and Kolkata-based Indian Jute Industries.
The center says that the change in 3 tier board structure and the status of TRA’s status was a crucial step towards the optimal utilization of the finance structure since it doesn’t significantly impact the policy-making. The resolution has been subjected to many criticism by many active members. According to the chairperson of Dastakar ‘Laila Tyabji’ This resolution will snatch the only platform for weavers and craftspeople where they could raise their concerns.
The center at the same time defends its decision of ‘minimum government’ as a move towards reduction of unnecessary expenditures, but at the same time we can’t let it go unseen that the expense to the Board is hardly Rs 1,00,000 per year. public policy expert Narasimha Reddy says that one would wonder what could have fostered the policy makers of ‘minimum government and maximum governance’ there is hardly any heavy expenditure witnessed.
