With the move to repeal The Handlooms (Reservation of Articles for Production) Act, 1985, there is yet another attempt at mechanising the traditional crafts forms, that would eventually render lakhs of artisans jobless. The argument of the powerloom lobbies is that the same textile product, like a saree, can be made faster, cheaper and at a larger scale. The move is ignorant of the fact that the historical and glorious skills that artisans have, will be rendered obsolete by mechanical alternatives that produce cheaper, but employ far fewer people in a country where power is scarce and labour abundant. More importantly, the soul of the traditional skills and artforms would be lost forever.