The Ministry of Textiles is considering revising the insurance system for handloom weavers due to the low number of registered

New Delhi: The textiles ministry plans to revamp the insurance component of its Handloom Weavers’ Comprehensive Welfare Scheme after enrollment fell far short of the target, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Only 2.02 lakh weavers and workers have applied for coverage under the government’s two insurance schemes — Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) — in 2025-26, against a target of 4.69 lakh, leaving less than half of the intended coverage. The shortfall comes even as the center increased insurance funding more than fivefold ₹335 million from ₹60.01 crore a year ago.

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The ministry is now looking at ways to increase enrolment, expand coverage and tighten implementation through state governments as part of a broader review of the Handloom Weavers’ comprehensive welfare system, the people said.

The relatively low insurance coverage is mainly due to the fragmentation and largely disorganized nature of the handloom industry. A significant number of weavers operate outside formal institutional networks, making it difficult for state governments to identify and register all eligible beneficiaries.

“Dependence on states to identify and register beneficiaries, along with limited awareness and annual renewal under insurance schemes, has affected participation,” one of the people said.

Queries emailed to the Ministry of Textiles remained unanswered till press time.

Limited awareness

Industry experts attributed the low participation mainly to limited awareness among handloom weavers about insurance schemes and their benefits.

“The biggest problem is not the availability of the insurance scheme but the lack of awareness. Most of the outreach efforts are limited to the traditional weaving clusters that are already linked to government schemes,” said Dr. Babita Biswas, founder and chairperson of BRIATOSHS, which works with crochet weavers. Sustained rural awareness is needed to reach new and emerging weavers, without which enrollment will remain below potential, she added.

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India has 26.74 lakh handloom weavers, with the sector heavily concentrated in a few states, according to the Fourth Census of India (2019–20), the latest data available. Assam has the largest handloom workforce with 11.07 lakh weavers, accounting for more than two-fifths of the country’s total, followed by Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh and Manipur.

Enrollment figures for 2025-26 also show significant variation between states. Assam recorded the highest enrollment in PMJJBY and PMSBY with 97,451 weavers and workers followed by Karnataka, Odisha, Kerala, Manipur, Nagaland and Jammu and Kashmir. In contrast, several populous states, including Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, reported little or no enrollment during the year.

Different fund allocation

Of course, the allocation of funds under this scheme also varied significantly between states. In 2025-26, Assam received the highest allocation at ₹133.69 lakh, followed by Odisha, Manipur, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Other states received much smaller allocations, while some received no funding during the year, underscoring wide variations in implementation across the country.

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The second person said the ministry would immediately focus on identifying all eligible handloom weavers and enrolling them in insurance schemes. “States will be encouraged to conduct wider awareness campaigns and increase participation to expand coverage in line with the targets,” the person said.

The review follows similar course corrections made by the center in other flagship programs. On 9 July, Mint reported that the government had revised downward the targets under the PM Internship Scheme after the pilot phase of the scheme received a weaker-than-expected response.