ORGANISATIONAL PROFILE :
It is an apex institution of the state of Himachal Pradesh in the field of handloom & handicrafts. Popularly known as HIMBUNKAR, was registered on 20th January 1984 by the name of the H.P. State handloom weavers Apex Cooperative Society Ltd. In order to provide a state level forum to the primary handloom cooperative societies working in different parts of the state. The headquarter of the society was kept at Kullu in a view of the concentration of weavers and the large number of registered weaver societies working in the area. In 2007, the name of the apex society was change to the “THE H.P.STATE HANDLOOM AND HANDICRAFTS DEVELOPMENT COOPERATIVE FEDERATION LTD”.

The cooperative society in general and the cooperative societies in particular, have a vital role to play in the Endeavour of raising the standard of living of weaker sections of society and rejuvenating the rural economy of India. So the contemporary relevance of a study on apex weaver society in a hilly state like Himachal Pradesh is evident from this strategy of decentralized growth being emphasized in the five year plans.

“HIMBUNKAR” is a state level APEX organization of primary cooperative societies consisting of weavers and artisans engaged in production of handicraft woven on handloom as well as others like woodcraft, leather, embroidery, woolen, carpets of Tibetan pattern artistically stitched rumals and shawls of chamba, decorative wooden pieces, grass shoes, Himachali caps , made-ups, embroidered ladies suits, shawls.

Himbunkar provides training .technical knowhow, raw material and avenues for marketing to artisans members of 292 affiliated cooperative societies out of which 89 are exclusively of rural women artisans. These functions of himbunkar pave way for economic amelioration of rural artisans and help in earning to their livelihood through utilization of time spared from agricultural activities particularly during the winter season when the areas remain snow clad for months together. The production and marketing of Himachali craft products is helping in preservation and upkeep of the age old tradition of art, heritage and local culture interlaid also trying to mix-up the latest technology, taste and needs, color mixing awareness of modern era.

OBJECTIVES :

The main objectives of the society at present are as under:

1. To purchase & stock raw material, tools & appliances connected with handloom and handicrafts industry primarily for use in its own business & for supply primarily to its member.
2. To arrange for the establishment of depots for the sale of handloom products belonging primarily to Apex society and its members. To make arrangements for dyeing, sizing, calendaring and finishing of handloom products and to set up for the purpose its own dye house or other processing plants.
3. To undertake production of handloom and handicrafts goods on its own account or from members.
4. To carry out publicity of proposals in respect of handloom & handicrafts industry by publication of suitable literature, arrangement of demonstration, organization of weavers conferences, participation in exhibitions & otherwise.
5. To collect commercial information regarding Handloom & Handicrafts Industry particularly relating to market conditions, adoption of new designs and improvement in techniques of production & disseminate
   such information amongst its members.
6. To do all such acts as may be conducive to the furtherance of the objects mentioned above.

The area of operation of the society is whole of the State of Himachal Pradesh.

WORKING :
The apex federation mainly work as friendly philosopher and guide to weavers and thus their cooperative societies. There are 292 primary weavers cooperative societies as its members across H.P. The policy matters are decided by the governing body that is the board of directors by holding meeting from time to time. At present the chairman of the federation is the principal secretary(corporation) to the govt. of H.P.

Basically the federation work in the following area-:

a) Production

b) Marketing

c) Training

a) PRODUCTION:
The apex federation has a program known as production plan. Under the production plan weavers societies are given raw material like yarn and designs and different kind of products on their own handlooms and the weaver cooperative societies in turn get the wages and the incentive for the products manufactured by them. The federation is also running some workshops in which some weavers work directly weavers societies also keep their product on consignment basis with their federation sometime depending upon the marketing requirement products are also outrightly purchased from the cooperative societies. Main products being dealt by the federation include kullu shawls, kinnauri, shawls, stoles, mufflers, jackets in all kind of design and colours.

b) MARKETING :
The federation markets the products through its own showrooms by conducting exhibitions and with the help of marketing tie-ups with different tandencies. Showrooms of the federation are located at manali, kullu. Bhuntar, tanogi, shimla, nahan and palampur.

In winter season lots of exhibitions are organized by the federation in various parts of the country.some of these exhibitions are sponsored by the ministry of textile govt. of India. At present the sale federation is having marketing tie-up with the H.P.state handloom handicraft cooperation, H.P. tourism development cooperation and some another agencies.

c) TRAINING :
Himbunkar organize training program for weaving, dying and designing from time to time. Some of these programs are sponsored by the Ministry of textiles, ministry of child development and NABARD etc. the weavers through their cooperative societies are given training in these fields as per the requirement and provision under various centering sponsored schemes. The federation has successfully completed few projects like support to training and employment program from ministry of child development, AMBEDKAR HASTSHILP vikas yojana from the ministry of textiles, marketing and promotional schemes from ministry of textiles. Still updation from Handloom federation of H.P. from NABARD integrated handloom development scheme from ministry of textile to name a few.