Bihar, became the first state in the country to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC). The State industries department on Tuesday signed an agreement to provide yarn on credit to weavers for 45 days.

It is the first time in the country that weavers in a state will be provided raw material on credit along with subsidy and free transport cost. In fact, the yarn supply scheme was conceptualized by industries department.

NHDC and the state industries department has created a corpus of Rs1 crore for this scheme. Another corpus of Rs2 crore has been created for advance payment to weavers affiliated to Bihar State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Union Limited , which supplies 'satrangi chadar (rainbow bedsheets) to state health department for using in government hospitals.

A cheque for Rs50 lakh from the second corpus was handed over to the weavers' cooperative on Tuesday. Besides, an aid to the tune of Rs1.25 crore was released to Bihar State Handloom Weavers' Cooperative Union Limited (BSHWCUL) for providing 68-inch looms to weavers for weaving bigger cloth pieces like double bedsheets and curtains among others. Industries department has allocated Rs1.35 crore for this scheme.

S Siddhartha, principal secretary (industries) said that primary weavers' societies will place orders for yarn through NHDC's e-Dhaga mobile application upon payment of only 10% of the total amount, following which the yarn will be delivered within 15 days without transportation charge.

While, the advance payment scheme for weavers under satrangi chadar scheme will ensure financial stability for weavers.

According to the state industries minister Jai Kumar Singh, handloom industry employs the highest number of people in Bihar after agriculture sector.