INDUSTRIES

INTRODUCTION

THE CENTRAL OBJECTIVE OF PUBLIC POLICY IN INDIA SINCE INDEPENDENCE has been the promotion of rapid and balanced economic development. What is applicable in a larger perspective to the country as a whole is equally true of a region or a part thereof. The two aspects of a district economy, viz., industrial and agricultural, therefore, must complement each other rather than compete. This chapter deals with the industries in the district, the growth of which depends upon the agricultural conditions of the district.

Industrialisation of the district is both a consequence of higher incomes and a means to higher productivity. It is a consequence of higher incomes in the sense that higher incomes of the people lead to increase in the spending potential of the people on manufactured goods and services and relatively less on food, which leads to a larger demand for manufactured goods and this finally leads to an expansion in the industrial complex. It is a means to higher productivity in the sense that it shifts surplus population from agriculture thereby enabling agricultural efficiency to increase, which finally leads to higher productivity.

The First Five-Year Plan was agriculture oriented, and laid the foundation of a progressive economy The Second Five-Year Plan was implemented with the intention to secure a more rapid growth of the district economy not only in production, but in creating a greater capability to produce. The Third Five-Year Plan also helped to produce the same result, intended in the previous Plan. Its objectives were a sizeable increase in the national income, rapid industrialisation, an expansion of employment opportunities and reduction of inequalities in income and wealth.

The rapid industrialisation leads to an increase in the district income as also expansion of employment opportunities. The people engaged in agricultural production suffer from disguised unemployment but this drawback could be removed with the development of small-scale and cottage industries of the district. However, the district money incomes which are generated in the process of production must flow in such a way as to maintain a balance between demand and supply of consumer goods, between savings and investment and between receipts and payments abroad.

The industrial growth of a particular region mainly depends upon three factors, viz., land, labour and capital, as also the other supplementaries such as raw-materials, skill and efficiency of labour, means of transport and communications, supply of electricity and marketing conditions. Even the non-availability of one of these factors may be responsible for slowing down or stopping of the industrial development of a district.

As the district is not self-sufficient as regards the above noted factors, it is not an industrialised one. Industries of the district account only for a small proportion of the total employment. Labour is not that much skilled so as to accentuate production. The other factors like transport, electricity, and marketing conditions are also not fully developed in the district where is also felt the dearth of organisational ability.

It may be noted that financial assistance for creation of fixed assets and working capital is one of the major instruments for promotion of industries. Financial assistance is granted by the following agencies for the purpose indicated against them:—

The different agencies also help in the scheme of hire purchase of machinery in providing import licences for raw-materials, in boosting up export and in establishing organizations for marketing of products of small-scale industries of the district. [Details available in chapter 13 of the same District Gazetteer.]

The Bombay-Nagpur broad-gauge line of the Central Railway traverses the district from west to east over a length of 44.56 miles. From Jalamb station on this line a branch line of the broad-gauge section runs to Khamgaon.

The district is well-connected by roads with the adjoining districts of Jalgaon, Aurangabad, Parbhani and Akola. The district headquarters is also well-connected by roads with all the tahsil headquarters. The Satpuda ranges stretch to the north in Jalgaon tahsil, and the Ajanthas towards the south in Chikhli and Mehkar tahsils. Many important places in the district are situated on the plateaus. Roads are, therefore, fewer in almost all parts of the district. The Surat-Jalgaon-Malkapur-Khamgaon-Nagpur National Highway passes through the district for a length of 66.54 miles.

However, the district cannot be regarded as an industrialised one and the proportion of labour employed in industries forms a small part of the total employment of the district. In 1901, [Central Provinces District Gazetteers. Buldhana District—Vol. A., 1910 pp. 247—51.] the district was almost agricultural, more than 74 per cent of the population being engaged in agricultural and allied occupations. Though cotton was considered an important product of the district there was not a single cotton mill, but a number of ginning and pressing factories preparing the raw products for export. The district contained rural industries such as manufacturing of khans (cloth for making cholis or parkar), newar (tape), tadhao (stout carpet), jhul (body cloth of bullocks), namda (a sort of coarse woollen stuff), agricultural implements, glass bangles, etc., but the industrial survey which was conducted in 1908, showed that, they were almost loosing ground as they were not able to face the competition of machine made articles. Generally, the industries were hereditary and continued from generation to generation. This conservative instinct prevented a greater exodus to other occupations. The silk industry had disappeared from the district altogether and the only industry which flourished was that of goldsmiths. In 1897, there were 1,339 cotton looms in the district, but the number decreased in the later years. Before the advent of railway, production from the raw stage to that of the manufactured stage was carried out in the district in regard to handlooms but with the availability of railway transport, the district imported spun threads from outside. The cotton ginning and pressing factories ranked first in the district and they numbered 65 (44 ginning factories, 21 pressing factories).

As per the 1931 Census of the Central Provinces, cotton covered 44.0 per cent of the gross cultivated area of the district. The cotton loom during the first triennium after 1921, and the Swadeshi and the Boycott movement led to the establishment of a number of ginning and pressing factories.

Though the bidi factories were the most important of the unregulated establishments of the Central Provinces, this district had only 5 bidi factories as per the 1931 Census. One bidi factory employed 71 workers. These workers included 20 men, 46 women and 5 children under the age of 15. The other four factories employed less than 50 persons. The employment figures show that a large number of women and children were engaged in the factories. However, no special facilities were provided for women and children.

In 1901, the number of Telis accounted for 2 per cent of the total population. The number of oil presses in the district in 1897 was 867, which decreased to 257 in 1908. Oil was manufactured from til, safflower, linseed, niger-seed, mahua, groundnut and castor seed. The oil was locally consumed and the oilcakes were served as food for cattle. Out of the total, only one oil mill at Shegaon utilised steam as its motive power.

The building up of a co-operative sector as part of the scheme of planned economic development is one of the important aims of national policy.

As a result of the implementation of the above scheme in the district, 26 industrial co-operative societies were established at the beginning of 1959.

In 1965-66 there were 44 industrial co-operative societies other than handloom weavers' societies.

Under 'Industries' programme of Third Five-Year Plan an expenditure of Rs. 14.327 for industrial co-operatives (including co-operatives of handicraft workers) and of Rs. 76,773 for development of handloom weavers' co-operatives was incurred.

There are proposals to set up new industrial estates at Shegaon and Khamgaon initially on co-operative lines in the district.

The growth of industries in the district can be vividly seen from the opportunities, industries provide to the population of the district. The tables that follow show the number of persons engaged in different industries as per 1951 and 1961 Censuses. The tables show that an increasing number of workers has been engaged in every industry in 1961 as compared to 1951 figures, except in mining and quarrying, where the percentage decrease amounts to about 60.12.

The table No. 3 shows tahsilwise distribution of workers in nine categories of economic activities as per the 1961 Census.

The proportion of cultivators as well as agricultural labourers differs considerably from tahsil to tahsil. The proportion of cultivators varies from 35.23 per cent for Khamgaon tahsil to 49.21 per cent for Chikhli tahsil. Similarly the proportion of agricultural labourers varies from 35.91 per cent in Chikhli tahsil to 51.72 per cent in Jalgaon tahsil. Such wide variations within the district can be ascribed to the differences in fertility of soils under the resulting cropping and land holding patterns. Only 3.25 per cent of workers are in household industry in Chikhli tahsil which is incidentally the highest percentage among all tahsils. In Khamgaon tahsil 3.91 per cent of workers are engaged in manufacturing other than household industry. The highest percentage of workers (2.10 per cent) engaged in construction is found in Malkapur tahsil, which is higher than the State average of 1.24 per cent probably due to the construction works under way. Higher percentage than State average is also seen in Khamgaon tahsil in trade and commerce. On the other hand in Khamgaon tahsil the percentage of workers engaged in other services is lower than the State average (7.89 per cent.). [District Census Handbook, Buldhana District, 1961.]

TABLE No. 1

NUMBER OF PERSONS DERIVING THEIR LIVELIHOOD FROM INDUSTRIES, BULDHANA DISTRICT AS PER 1951 CENSUS

TABLE No. 2

NUMBER OF PERSONS ENGAGED IN DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES IN BULDHANA DISTRICT, 1961.

TABLE No. 3

TAHSILWISE DISTRIBUTION OF WORKERS ACCORDING TO ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES, BULDHANA DISTRICT, 1961

Besides giving the general review of the industrial development in the district with particular regard to government policy towards it, the chapter also describes particular industries. The chapter is divided into three sections viz., (i) Large and small-scale industries—mechanised industries, (ii) Cottage and village industries, (iii) Labour organizations and labour welfare activities.

The following statement [Source—Bureau of Economics and Statistics, Maharashtra State, Bombay,] shows the decrease in the district employment in factories:—

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