Bhubaneswar, Jan. 3: The Orissa government and IIT-Kharagpur have joined hands to protect traditional handloom designs by registering weavers’ copyrights.

Orissa, known for its exquisite handloom and textile products, has around 3.5 lakh weavers and around 60,000 handlooms artists engaged in the trade. However, the two communities are passing through a crisis period, due to cut-throat competition coming from mills and power looms, who copy traditional designs and sell duplicates at cheaper rates.

To put an end to the problem, the Orissa government has adopted a three-pronged strategy — brand promotion, geographical indication and copyright and trademark registration — in order to protect weavers’ interest, said handlooms and textile minister Golak Bihari Naik. He added that traditional designs are being patented and registered through geographical indicators.

Department secretary Anita Agnihotri said Orissa’s ikkat and bandha fabrics and kotpad vegetable dye have already found their way to the Geographical Indication Registry of India.

The government has announced a Rs 45-crore package for weavers for the first time since independence, for capacity-building, infrastructure-building for production and marketing, brand-building and weavers’ welfare.

Budgetary provision has already been made for the above package, said the secretary. Under this scheme, every weaver would be issued an identity card with a code number.

This fiscal, 600 worksheds would be built for weavers at an estimated cost of Rs 37,000 each and 1,000 every year. Training would be imparted to 2,000 weavers for skill up-gradation.

A craft museum would also be set up in Bhubaneswar with an estimated cost of Rs 2 crore on the lines of National Crafts’ Museum in New Delhi.

Services of Jatindra Jain, former director of National Crafts’ Museum have been sought for the purpose, conceded Agnihotri.