Economist’s Column Need for Decentralised Industrialisation

Economist Column The need for a decentralised industralisation

Development process followed in the state of West Bengal base on landreform and rural development by involving the common people in the development activities through the panchayati raj system, i.e. local self government has enlarged the rural markets for industrial products. This is both for the increased input demand due to increased and diversified agricultural production and also for meeting the increased demand for final common goods. This development is supposed to give a boost to industrial sector of the area. But due to the liberal impart policy and the policy of opening up of the economy the rural markets are now flooded with either the imported industrial goods and/or with the products of wholly foreign companies or of the foreign collaborated with situated in India. State Government’s programme for promotion of industries in the district and at sub-district levels are basically looked after by the District Industries Center (DIC).

Some concrete idea can be formed from an example from a district viz, Midnapur. Under a programme of self employment these was an advance of loan of Rs.40 crores to nearly 3000 small entrepreneurs by the commercial banks during the last 4 years. Out of this nearly Rs.36 crores was for establishing trading units. The extent of development in Midnapur district during the last 20 years can be guessed from simply the fact that the deposit in commercial bank branches in this district increased from Rs.101 crores in 1981 to Rs.2065 crores in 1999. This is only a part of the increased production in this district. Foreign companies and multinationals are coming in a big way to exploit these markets. Selling multinational companies like Asian Sky shop has been entering the remote villages in Midnapur district through building up of their network of local salesman. It is now the time to prevent the aggression of foreign companies by building up small and tiny industrial units at each and every rural areas based on the local raw materials, locally available skill (a large number of trained technical and semi-technical persons have been created in rural areas through different training programmes of the government and non-government organisations) and entrepreneurial capacities of the local youths, to cater the local demand through at a competitive price.