Socio-Economic Conditions of Handloom Weavers

The present study is basically a socio-economic study of handloom weavers in Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh. The unique feature of handloom industry in the district is that the industry in eastern zone of Cuddapah district is providing gainful employment to the handloom weavers whereas the industry in western zone is producing traditional varieties and not able to improve the socio-economic status of the handloom weavers. The present research work is a modest attempt in the direction of analyzing the reasons for disparities in the socio-economic status of the handloom weavers in these two sectors viz. eastern and western zones of Cuddapah district. Data pertaining to the evolution of handloom industry for over a period of 20 years (1970-90) had been collected and analyzed. The study tries to identify the important factors responsible for the existing inter regional disparities of the handloom weavers in the eastern and western sectors of Cuddapah district.