Efficacy of Cluster- Based Approach for the revival of Handloom Co-operative Societies in Kerala- with special reference to Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur Districts

one of the key sectors, identified by the Department of Industries Government of Kerala, for the cluster development initiative is Handloom, which gives employment to over over 50,000 people directly. Despite its age old tradition and fame, the performance of the sector vis-à-vis power looms is not very rosy owing to (i) competition from cheap power loom cloth from other states (ii) scarcity of quality yarn (iii) price escalation of yarn, dyes, chemicals and other raw materials (iv) the shrinking market for handlooms in Kerala (v) non-demand based production and inadequacy of new designs and (vi) inefficiencies in the system, particularly in the co-operative sector. Cluster based approach is adopted in the handloom sector with the objective of providing necessary support mechanism to come out of the crisis that the sector faces now. While four cluster schemes are being implemented in Kerala, it is under IHDS-CDP that the State got a sizeable number of clusters benefiting a large number of societies and weavers- 24 handloom clusters, bringing 152 handloom co-operative societies and over 19,800 handloom workers under the Programme. This research attempts to revisit the underlying rationale and context of the new direction and would attempt to broadly analyze the growth trends under the influence of cluster model adopted by the State IHDS-CDP for the revival of handloom sector through a detailed study of the handloom co-operative societies in Kerala. If handloom sector in Kerala can be revived using cluster based approach, it can be easily concluded that cluster is capable of taking the MSME in Kerala to a ‘high growth path.’ The study is aimed at understanding how best clusters emerge as appropriate industrial organization suitable for the current global structure of manufacture