Constraints and suggestions of weavers under KRDP scheme in Chhattisgarh state

Introduction

In context to economic development of India, a strategic and special position has been given to the development of Village and Small Industries (VSI) which acquire an important component of the overall Indian Economy. After agriculture, the Village and Small Industries sector provides largest job prospect in the rural and semi-rural areas. The Village and Small Industries (VSI) sector consists both traditional and modern small industries. It consists of eight specific groups i.e. handloom, handicrafts, coir, sericulture, khadi, village industries, small-scale industries and power looms. The last two items are considered as modern group of industries and the other groups are taken under traditional industries. Khadi and Village Industries (KVI) are an important component of the non-factory unorganized sector of India economy. These industries play a vital role in national economy because it generates large employment opportunities in the rural areas at low capital. The KVI helps in utilization of available manpower and raw materials by the use of simple techniques of production.

The main role of Khadi and Village Industries in our country can be divided in to two different periods, i.e. up to 1947, when India achieved its Independence and the period after Independence. In the British era, the development and role of Khadi and Village Industries was totally a nongovernmental effort under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi. During the struggle of freedom, KVI served as a tool to achieve two goals i.e. to eliminate unemployment and hunger while promoting self-reliance through local manufacturing and to actively involve the impoverished in the fight for independence. After independence the Government of India took responsibility for the development of KVI sector for overall development of the country's economy. During the initial years of planned development, it acts as an instrument of poverty reduction and the government took the responsibility for bringing its development within the framework of Five-Year Plans.

Methodology

The methodological procedure consisted identification of the problem, research design, sources of data, area of study, www.extensionjournal.com sampling procedure, selection and measurement of variables, tools and methods of data collection and statistical framework for analysis of data. The study was conducted in 4 institutions were selected purposely for the present study. which are located in Janjgir-Champa, Bastar, Dhamtari, and Korba, districts of Chhattisgarh state. Suitable and appropriate tools were used for the measurement in light of the derived objective. There were 14077 registered weavers in Chhattisgarh from KVIC. From them, 2250 registered weavers in 4 selected institutions, which are established in four different districts, from them 10% of total registered weavers have been selected for present study. Thus, total of 225 weavers (75 from Janjgir-champa, 50 from Bastar, 50 from Dhamtari and 50 from Korba) were selected for present study. The data were collected through personal interview and then after it is compiled, tabulated and analyzed to get proper answer for the specific objectives of the study with the help of various appropriate statistical tools.

Results and Discussion

3.1 Constraints faced by the weavers which are working under KRDP An attempt has been made in this study to identify the constraints faced by the weavers which are working under KRDP. The details about these constraints are given in below.

Suggestions for enhancing the income of weavers

These results indicate strong support for implementing various strategies to overcome the constraints faced by weavers and enhance their income. The result shows that a vast majority (96.00%) of respondents suggested introducing other efficient production methods to reduce time-consuming processes followed by 91.11 percent of respondents emphasized the importance of providing access to modern machinery to enhance production efficiency. From total 74.67 percent of respondents recommended training weavers on inventory management to improve stocking practices, 66.22 percent of respondents suggested diversifying product offerings to appeal to a broader range of markets and 65.78 percent of respondents recommended providing training on quality control to ensure uniformity in the quality of products. More than fifty percent of the respondents suggested providing technical training for machine operation to address the lack of technical skills issue (60.89%), upgrading production facilities and infrastructure to address weak infrastructure issues (52.89%) and standardizing procurement processes to address the irregular quantity issue (52.44%).

References

1. Adesope OM, Matthews EC, Oguzor NS, Ugwuja VC. Crop Production Technologies. 1st ed. Shanghai: In Tech China; 2009. p. 178.
2. Anusuya, Banurekha. A study on customer satisfaction towards khadi and village industries products. International Journal of Management and Technology. 2016.
3. Peters RH, Bajpai S. The role and working of handloom sector in Chhattisgarh. International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology. 2017;4(2):492-498.
4. Raipur (C.G.): College of Agriculture, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya; 2014.
5. Prajapati JV, Patel JB, Bhatt PM. Extent of adoption of low-cost technologies of animal husbandry by tribal dairy farm women. Indian Research Journal of Extension Education. 2015;15(4):47-50.
6. Punnusamy K, Gupta J. Fisheries-based farming system for sustainable livelihood of coastal farmers. Indian Journal of Fisheries. 2007;54(3):327-331.
7. Pyne AS. An exploratory study on khadi industry of India. Available at SSRN 2947509. 2017.
8. Raghani et al. A conceptual study on journey of khadi: From a freedom fabric to fashion fabric. Jagannath University Research Journal. 2020;I(II).
9. Raju GN, Rao KV. A study on the socio-economic conditions of handloom weavers. Journal of Rural Development. 2014;33(3):309-328.