Highlight any five points which enabled the handloom sectors score over machine made goods and face the competition.
- This happened partly7 because of technological advancements. By the second decade of the 20th century, weavers started using fly shuttle. This increased productivity of every worker, shed up production and reduced labour demand. By 1941, over 35 per cent of handlooms in India were fitted with fly shuttles. In regions like Travancore, Madras, Mysore, Cochin and Bengal 70 to 80 per cent of handlooms had fly shuttles.
- There were many other small inventions that helped weavers improve productivity and compete with mills.
- Also, the demand for finer varieties of cloth bought by the rich, was very stable. Even famines did not affect the sale of Banarasi or Baluchari sarees.
- Mill production could not imitate and compete with specialised weaves such as the famous sarees with woven borders and the famous lungis and hand- kerchiefs of Madras.