TRADITIONAL INDUSTRIES
The traditional industries in Kerala particularly coir, handlooms, khadi, bamboo-based, handicrafts, artisanal and village (cottage) industries etc. are plagued by problems of high cost production, low quality, absence of diversified product range, inappropriate technology and incapacity for professional marketing and export. Increased mechanization, large scale of production and global competition in quality and price pose the threat of massive redundancies in these high employment sectors of Kerala, which may result in poverty and social problems.
To attract private sector investment badly needed in these sectors, a special scheme of investment subsidy with adequate incentives will be implemented, so that our reliance on cooperatives heavily dependents financially on the government for investment (often to the extent of 95% or more) will be reversed. Agencies created primarily as apex organizations and for marketing of traditional industry products like coir, handloom, khadi, cottage industry products, handicrafts etc. will be given programme funding rather than the non- conditional grants and share participation given in the past in order to avoid wastage of scarce Government resources on high overheads and to ensure delivery of their services (particularly marketing) in the most cost effective manner, using private sector finance and initiative at the retail level.
The development and production of value added, diversified and innovative products from traditional industries is proposed to be done by a cluster based approach which will ensure the critical mass for forward integration. Marketing, both domestic and global, is to be promoted by developing brand equity for Kerala’s traditional industry products. Research and development to create new processes and appropriate machinery will be funded on a project-to-project basis with the provision for success fees linked to effective commercialization and commissioning.
(i) Handlooms.
Around 50000 handlooms both in the private sector and in over 750 cooperative societies provide employment to about 1.25 lakh weavers. Kerala State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society (HANTEX), the apex organization of the cooperatives and Kerala State Handloom Development Corporation Ltd (HANVEEV) providing services (especially marketing) to individual weavers, are the principal development agencies assisting the Department of Handlooms and Textiles.
The handloom industry faces a serious crisis, owing to (i) competition from cheap powerloom cloth from other states (ii) scarcity of quality yarn (iii) price escalation of yarn, dyes, chemicals and other raw materials (iv) the shrinking market for handlooms in Kerala (v) non-demand based production and inadequacy of new designs and (vi) inefficiencies in the system, particularly in the cooperative sector.
The Deen Dayal Hathkargha Prothsahan Yojana (DDHPY) introduced by the Government of India is a comprehensive scheme for the development of the handloom industry. The assistance provided by the Government of India is sometimes insufficient considering the wages and quality of living in Kerala and hence it may be supplemented by State schemes. Welfare schemes of the Government of India will also be popularized and implemented in the above manner.
(ii) Coir.
Over 3 lakh direct workers exist in the coir sector, most of them attached to the over 500 coir cooperatives in Kerala. Adequate low cost production of coir fibre from the coconut husk is to be ensured by systematic collection of husk from farmers, conversion to fibre by a mechanized process in the de-fibring units to be set up on a large scale by private entrepreneurs. Further investments will not be made by the State in the cooperative defibring units set up. In order to maintain the quality and the relatively high wages in the coir-spinning sector, special emphasis will be given to develop and popularise spinning ratts with high productivity and appropriate mechanization. The existing viable spinning cooperatives will be restructured and modernised. Coirfed and the Kerala State Coir Corporation are to focus their activities in marketing and development/popularisation of innovative products such as geo-textiles, as originally envisaged and not in production.
Geo-textiles and other innovative products from the biodegradable coir yarn are to be developed and made acceptable for civil engineering and other varied applications where massive potential demand exists both in India and abroad. Entrepreneur development, research and technology up-gradation programmes along with substantial private investment in the coir sector (now dominated by cooperatives) will be facilitated. Appropriate technology will be introduced to enhance productivity and maintain the competitive edge of Kerala coir, now seriously threatened by other fibres including polymers and coir products from the other states. Quality improvement, value addition, innovation, technology up-gradation, diversification and export-oriented growth capitalising on the eco-friendliness of coir will constitute the development strategy for the coir sector.
(iii) Khadi & Village Industries.
The khadi sector has at present most of the problems indicated for traditional industries including handloom, but in a more acute form. As the production process is totally manual, one unit of khadi cloth needs several times the man-days needed by the mechanized textile sector and 4 times of that of the handloom sector. At present there is a mismatch in production between the spinning and weaving sectors in Kerala, which is proposed to be rectified by expanding the weaving sector by retraining of trainable spinners as weavers and providing new looms to them. Innovative designs in keeping with consumer demand including in silk, permissible mechanization, standardization of quality, incentives for private sector production of ready made garments from khadi cloth, efficient marketing through private outlets with common branding and facilitation of global exports are envisaged.
Village (cottage) industries is the only sector where investment incentives (given in the form of margin money grant of 25% / 30%) are directly linked to employment generation. Massive employment through new village industries is to be promoted by offering to prospective entrepreneurs project profiles based on potential/ demand surveys, ensuring value addition especially to agricultural produce and popularizing modern techniques of marketing. The Kudumbashree model of development will be adopted especially in rural areas to generate sustainable employment and enterprises.
(iv) Handicrafts.
Treating the handicrafts sector on par with the other traditional industries for incentives and concessions, cluster-based development, common facilities, mechanized production to reduce costs, targeting the global market and promotion of entrepreneurs in the business of production and marketing of handicrafts are the corner stones of the handicrafts development policy. An innovative approach of attracting outsourced production contracts for the ethnic handicrafts of other countries and regions will be attempted, considering Kerala’s strengths of comparatively low cost production and high quality of workmanship in handicrafts. Skill development training and common facility centres for the provision of commonly needed but expensive equipment and professionalisation of marketing and export through the public and private sectors are also integral to this strategy.
(v) Bamboo.
Considering the major scope for development of bamboo in Kerala both as a raw material for the traditional handicraft sector as well as for modern industry (as in China), a special programme is proposed for cultivation of bamboo, creation of new designs for innovative products in the handicrafts sector along with the appropriate skill development, promotion of bamboo-based modern industries supported by technology adaptation and development by R & D organizations.
(vi) Cashew.
Massive infusions of Government funds have not been able to ensure adequate work to cashew workers in the cooperative and public sectors as the cashew industry is facing a crisis of crashing prices internationally. Ensuring adequate local production of raw cashew nuts by appropriate legal and other facilitative measures, modernization of the industry to enhance productivity, lowering of the local costs of production to prevent the shifting of this industry to other low wage regions and strengthening further the dominant position of Kerala cashew in the global market are the proposed measures.
|
