CHAPTER 7 TECHNOLOGY IN KHADI

Transcription

1 CHAPTER 7 TECHNOLOGY IN KHADI 7.1 Introduction Earlier thinking on development conceptualised the process of economic development to be characterised by a gradual shift of surplus labour from traditional sectors to modern sector until full employment is reached. Reality, however, has been quite different, and a disappointing employment performance in many developing countries has caused a good deal of disenchantment with their growth experience. Growing concern for employment creation has generated renewed interest in small and cottage industries, which are labour intensive (women oriented), utilise capital efficiently, use local resources and bring about regional equality, export contribution, easy adaptation of technology etc. (Islam, 1992). In India after Independence we had to rely on labour intensive production processes to utilize the abundant labour factor. Therefore small cottage and village industries were promoted through KVIC after 1970 when poverty in rural India was acute. Another argument favouring using of such technology was the argument of appropriate technology or environment friendly production process promoted by economists like Schumacher. In this chapter first we briefly looks at status of technology existing in the Khadi industry in Section 7.2. Section 7.3 examines, if there is a presence of technological dualism within Khadi industry. It is followed by an analysis of how an introduction of a new technology in Khadi industry NMC (New Model Charaka) introduced in early 1970 s could have impacted the production, sales, employment and wages of Khadi artisans in Section 7.4. Further, in Section 7.5 we look at the attempts made by Prayoga Samithi (Research and Development (R&D), KVIC) and some larger institutions for enhancing R & D; The gestation period of technology dissemination between KVIC and Institutions; Status of investment in promoting the R&D activities, to evaluate the role of R & D in promoting Khadi programme; Powerisation of charaka as an issue to reduce the drudgery of artisan s is discussed further to look at its implications from various perspectives. Summary of findings are presented in section Background To Technology In Charaka Technology means a specialised knowledge applied to achieving a practical 215

2 purpose in other words, it is a physical tool used for any resource transformation. In economic parlance it is transforming inputs into outputs. Transfer of technology with in a country is called as diffusion of technology and adaptation of the technology implies how well the technology has been adopted to the local conditions. In the Khadi industry R & D activities can be divided in two areas: - At the level of production which includes innovations in the looms, in charkhas and similar other implements. At the level of fabric, that is, innovations in yarn, pattern, design, color, and dyeing of the cloth. The technology of production available with Khadi cannot even be compared to the existing modern high speed spinning and weaving machinery. In Khadi Industry we have quite rudimentary technologies available when it started functioning as an employment programme. Later there were introduction of NMC (New Model Charka) in spinning and frame looms and design based jack looms in weaving. Further there was introduction of New Model Charka (NMC) with a range of spindles in spinning technology. Frame looms and design based jack looms for weaving of silk and special designed cotton sarees were introduced as part of improvement of weaving technology. It is really a Herculean task to disaggregate and look at improvements in production capacity, labour productivity and wage improvement given the range of technological innovations which occurred in weaving and spinning across different states of the country from past five to six decades. However, here an attempt is made to analyse how introduction of a new technique of production in spinning NMC, can have an impact on Production, sales, employment, wages and on the livelihood of the artisans to get an idea about Khadi industry after Since the inception of Khadi Programme the major aim has been to evolve, simple, yet efficient spinning equipment, which would ensure higher production and better earnings. Mahatma Gandhi, while reviving Khadi, believed that - without spinning wheel, there could be no 'Swaraj', therefore, every one should spin. Though initially, he started with the traditional charkha but soon realised its limitations in the context of acute unemployment and under-employment in rural areas; and felt the need to increase its productivity significantly. Gandhiji, in fact, announced a prize of a lakh of rupees to anyone who invented the charkha with higher productivity, capable of being plied and repaired in villages and within the reach of the resources of 216

3 common man Ambar Charkha After Independence the importance and the urgency of technical research to evolve better implements had grown with the launching of First Five Year Plan in Continuous research on the improvement of the implements led to the development of 4 spindle wooden Ambar Charkha in This charkha was backed by dhunai media and pisai belni and it was the first major breakthrough from the old traditional method, introducing ring-frame spinning technology to the decentralized spinning sector. In 1955, All India KVI Board had prepared a comprehensive program for the production of the entire additional quantity of yarn required during the second plan through Ambar charkha. Since traditional charkha was unable to cater to the projected targets of production, Ambar charkha was brought into being to replace the traditional charkha. It was felt that the information regarding the technical soundness, efficiency, performance and quality were quite meager, therefore Mr. Karve committee was given the responsibility for checking the above mentioned qualities of the Ambar charkha. The committee felt that, technical and organizational experiments connected with the Ambar Charkha should be undertaken by April or May of 1956 by some technical experts from the Textile Industry. Consequently Govt. of India instituted the Amber Charkha Enquiry Committee (Government Of India, 1956) to conduct experiments on the Ambar Charkha and give the recommendations regarding technical aspects. The Enquiry committee on the Ambar charkha (1956) concluded that different tools or machines comprising the Ambar charkha set are capable of being worked with hand for eight hours with sufficient intervals of rest without fatigue. It was also unanimously agreed that Ambar charkha is well suited for producing upto 24 counts and the yarn is fairly even for the purpose of weaving. Training in the use, handling and maintenance of the Ambar Charkha is essential for three months. 217

4 A flat rate of 1 ½ annas a hank for all counts was fixed. It was advised to watch the working of the piece rate as a whole and review it further after a period of 12 to 18 months. Both intensive and extensive efforts should be made to improve the design and scale of Ambar charakha. However, the problems of organization and lack of efficient implements for the preparatory processes such as opening and carding of cotton and preparation of card slivers and rovings loomed large in the wake of rapid and large scale introduction of Ambar Charkhas in This necessitated further technical research and improvements in development of efficient pre-processing implements, in design of the charkha and in organising the programme of this nature and size New Model Charkha (NMC) As a result of sustained and continuous efforts in research and experiments, around 1965, yet another improved version of the all-metal ambar charkha known as New Model Charkha (NMC) of different types, 2 spindle, 6 spindle, 7 spindle and 12 spindle charkhas were designed and developed while incorporating all the advantages of the old Ambar charkha, combined in its design and construction are some of the modern principles of spinning and its preparatory processes. With the introduction of the all-metal New Model Charkha (NMC) the Khadi sector can be said to have entered a new technological phase. The NMC is a definite advance, from the technical point of view, over its predecessor, the ambar charkha and can be said to represent an intermediate level of technology, in between the traditional charkha and modern ring frames working in mills. The preparatory processes prior to spinning on charkhas have also been improved. These are based on processes employed in textile mills. Power has been introduced to operate some of these preparatory machines. There is no essential difference between the 2 spindle, 6 spindle, 7 spindle or the 12 spindle NMC in terms of technology. All of them are basically adaptations of the ring frame. The 12 spindle NMC is pedal operated, while the rest are hand operated. Each 12 spindle NMC set consists of 25 charkhas and 19 other implements for preparatory processes viz., carding, patta making, drawing and roving, providing employment to 62 persons. Similarly, each 2 spindle NMC set 218

5 consists of 75 charkhas and 8 other implements. Each 6 spindle NMC set consists of 25 spinning implements (charkhas) and 8 other implements. Under laboratory conditions, 12 spindle NMC gave an average production of 34 hanks, 6 spindle 20 hanks and 2 spindle 12 hanks in 8 hours work. It may also be pointed out that the ring frame spinning technology was further adapted to muslin spinning (with 7 spindle) and even in spinning of yarn on lower counts. It has also been possible to extend it to woollen yarn spinning. The main advantage of the NMC is that all its processes are streamlined from the opening of cotton to the spinning of yarn. This is expected to increase operational efficiency. Other important features are that it does not require long initial training for its operation and ensures production of yarn of uniform quality. It is light in operation and its wear and tear is small. A study was conducted in 1983 by KVIC s, Directorate of Economic Research, to see the Utilization of New Model Charakas in Gujarat. The broad findings are as follows. The socio-economic aspect of the study has revealed that spinning program had provided additional income to agricultural workers and casual labour during the off-seasons and it has also opened new avenues of work opportunities for the unemployed. However, the over-all percentage of idleness of charkha was much higher at 39 per cent as against initial assumption of 20 percent. Overall capacity utilisation of the Charkha was about just 33 percent. Hence, the case is not only of non-utilisation or idleness of the charaka but also of underutilisation of the working charkhas. The major gaps in the program were, both at the institutional level nonavailability of repairing services, spare parts, follow up services, technical guidance, not supplying slivers in time etc. of and spinners quickly switching over to casual work in agricultural operations, road constructions etc. as the wages in spinning were quite low. Thus the study revealed that introduction of the NMC had problems of diffusion, lack of technical assistance, idleness and under-utilisation of the Charkha. It took some time for the people to get adapted to new technology. 7.3 Technological Dualism In Khadi One question that lurks in the mind of a researcher is whether technological dualism; i.e. in its broadest senses of co-existence of competing technologies exist within the Khadi industry or not? Analysis reveals that there are variations in Khadi 219

6 technology, but one kind of technology is never competing or at loggerheads with the other kind of technology. There is no essential difference between the 2 spindle, 6 spindle, 7 spindle or the 12 spindle NMC in terms of technology. All of them are basically adaptations of the ring frame. The 12 spindle NMC is pedal operated, while the rest are hand operated. Moreover, the technology is of complementary nature; i.e only one labour can be employed for each charaka or in other words technology is based on equal capital-labour ratio. Therefore, we can't definitely conclude that technological dualism exists within the Khadi sector. For example, a middle aged women may prefer to work on a 6, 8 or 12 spindle charaka and most of younger women (below 25 years) may prefer to work on only 4 or 6 spindle charkha purely due to physical convenience. Thus we see that use of technology is by choice or physical convenience than of competing nature. This may lead to slight variation in wage earnings depending on the type of spindle technology used, productivity and the count of the yarn but not a pure case of technological dualism. 7.4 Impact Of New Model Charka On Various Aspects After looking briefly at the technology in the Khadi sector. Next we analyse the impact of introduction of a new technology (NMC) in post 1970 s with respect to rise in the production, sale, employment generation, on improving the productivity and earnings of the artisans. We analyse the time series data of the above-mentioned variables in terms of growth rates for every five years from the time of inception of Khadi from 1953 onwards. Further, 1970 is taken as a bench-mark year for our further analysis as it happens to be the year when NMC as a new technology was introduced. Theoretically we expect or hypothesise that a changing to or an introduction of new technology would bring about a phenomenal rise in, production, sales, employment generation, etc. to cater to the ever rising demand of rural labour force in India, at least by giving them employment opportunities during off-season as envisaged by Gandhiji Impact On Production, Sales And Stock Data reveals that there is a steep rise in production in value and quantity terms after 1970 s with the introduction of NMC, with value of output slightly fluctuating once in a while. In quantity terms the production has risen from around 1 million square meters in to around 11 million square meters in mid 1990 s. Further, in value terms, after introduction of NMC growth rates of production and sales 220

7 Table 7.1: Five Year Growth Rates For Production, Sales, Employment, Stock and Artisans Wages. Years Production (Value) Production (quantity) Sales (value) Employment (Number) Average Growth rate for all the years Source: Government of India (1998 b): Statistical Abstract of Khadi Industry, Directorate of Economic Research, KVIC-Mumbai. Cont from Table (7.1). Years Stock (Value) Artisans wages Artisans (value) wages (real) Average Growth rate for all the years showed an initial rise and then a decline which got more or less stabilized after at around 8 percent growth rate (Table 7.1 & Graph 7.1). However growth rates of sales (in real terms) has not kept pace with the rise in growth of production (in real). This may be due to falling demand for Khadi products or very poor sales strategies and quality of end products, which has resulted in accumulation of stocks (in real) over the period (Table 7.1, Graphs 7.2 & 7.3). In short we can say that even though the new technology (NMC) has improved the production of Khadi however as 221

8 there was no commensurate performance of sales along with the production, it has resulted in growth of stocks which blocks the working capital. Cont From Table 7.1: Five Year Growth Rates for Production, Sales and Stock in Real Terms. Years Production (Real) Sales (Real) Stock (Real) Average Growth rate for all the years Graph Production in Value and Quantity Rs. Crores Qnty. Mill'n, sq.m PRODUCTION (Value in crores) PRODUCTION (Quantity in million sq.mtrs.)

9 Graph 7.2 Growth rate (five years) Prod'n, Sales, Stock (in value) Gr. rate Years Production (Value) Sales (Value) Stock (Value) Graph 7.3 Growth rate (Five Yrs) Production, Sale & Stock (real) Gr. rts years Production (Real) Sales (Real) Stock (Real) 223

10 7.4.2 Impact On Employment and Earnings After the introduction of new technology (NMC) in 1970 s employment declined initially and later on picked up and got stabilised at just 14 lakh persons after Surprisingly the employment generation capacity of Khadi declined after the introduction of NMC in the initial years, the rise in employment is much lower than the s peak of 19 lakh persons employment (Graph 7.4). This may be either due to Labour displacement process after the introduction of the NMC - as previously only 1,2 and 4 spindle Ambar charakas were existing which were later replaced by high productive 4,6,8 and 12 spindle NMC charakas catering to the existing production capacity involving lesser amounts of labour input. Further, when we look at Table 7.2, the labour productivity has kept rising immensely whereas the actual production and employment generation (expressed in growth rates) were growing at a slow pace (see also Table 7.1 & Graph 7.5). This observation highlights that labour displacement process was set in. Similar observation can be noticed in a study of KVI, by Srinivasulu k., & Chinnaswami M., (2001, pp. 246) too. They observed that introduction of modern synthetic substitutes and modernisation of traditional charkha, in which there is labour displacement tendency, are the major causes for low prospective of employment generation in Khadi industry. Plotting the growth rates of employment revealed similar declining trends. Further when we look at the wage earnings of the spinners and weavers combined, as per Government of India (1998 b) Statistical Abstract of KVIC, is estimated to be around Rs.165 per month only, which is much below the 1998 national minimum wage of Rs.1200 fixed for unskilled worker as per national minimum wage act of 1948 (estimated from daily wage of unskilled worker which is Rs.40 per day - refer to Minimum wages, 1998). From the above estimates drawn from published secondary data it is clear that most of the artisans of Khadi industry don t even earn the wages equivalent to an unskilled worker in India. We shall look in detail regarding the artisans earnings when we discuss the impact of Khadi on livelihood pattern of artisans in chapter

11 Graph 7.4 EMPLOYMENT (in crores) Emp (no. in crores) Years EMPLOYMENT (in crores) Graph 7.5 Growth rate (five years) for Employ'nt, wages (Value & Real) Gr.rates Years Employment (Number) Artisans wages (Value) Artisans wages(real) Impact On Artisan s Productivity And Employment Elasticity From Table 7.2 we can see there is a definite rise in the productivity over the years. This is more obvious after 1970 s where the average productivity has increased tremendously from 43.7 mts to 69.6 mts. But in the 90 s the productivity has declined 225

12 slightly showing the signs of decline in production and employment and its negative impact on the productivity. Table 7.2: Average Labour productivity for the Khadi Sector. Years Average annual Productivity (Sq. mts per worker) Source: Calculated from source of Table7.1 Cont.. Table 7.2: Employment Elasticity of Output. Years Production Production Employment Employment / Employment/P (Value) Growth (quantity) (Number) Production roduction rate Growth rate growth rate (Value) (Col.4/Col.2) (quantity) (Col.4/Col.3) Col.1 Col.2 Col.3 Col.4 Col.5 Col Avg gr rate Source: same as Table7.1 The results of employment elasticity of output has been presented in Cont.. Table 7.2. The employment elasticity of output is the ratio of growth of employment to growth of output. Though Khadi industry s aim was to generate employment through labour intensive techniques it is obvious that the purpose for which it has been created is not being served when we look at the elasticities. The overall elasticity has been has been very low, 0.21 and 0.41 for production in value and quantity respectively, which implies that employment increase per unit change in output is 226

13 quite low for a labour intensive based technology. In fact for the years the elasticity is 0, indicating that although growth rate of production is positive but it is not resulting in any further generation of employment. This observation also raises many questions regarding the authenticity of the data submitted by the institutions to KVIC. These points will be further discussed when we come to the utilization of funds made available to the institutions By KVIC and other sources. In summing up, we hypothesised that initially introduction of new technology improved the productivity to a large extent. But the increase in Production and Sales could not be sustained for a long time as the marketing aspect has been largely neglected. Employment though increased initially but that too sustained a set back due to fall in demand. Even the earnings of artisans are found to be un-sustainable to support their families. Moreover, field observations revealed that a lack of dynamism in terms of information dissemination regarding R&D by KVIC, lack of in-house R&D by institutions, adaptation and further improvement in the technology are some other key elements for the descent of Khadi industry. These issues are further discussed below. 7.5 Efforts Towards Innovations And R&D In Khadi Role of Information flow is one of the key factors identified by various studies for proper diffusion of technology. Opportunity, capacity and pressure to innovate being the other factors (Gold Bela, 1977). Opportunity refers to the exploitation of the information available on various technologies in operation and to choose the best for enhancing productivity. Capacity includes the financial, physical and technical setting of the firm. Pressure to innovate refers to the competitive forces compelling the producer to invent in order to survive in the market. Further, studies have shown that resistance to any new technology mostly manifests in the form of behavioral resistance, as the success of any new technology largely depends on the attitude and cooperation of the people involved in making them work (Gold Bela, 1977). We shall look at how these factors are working with in the Khadi sector from the field observation and opinions of various stakeholders of Khadi Industry. Though the elasticities for till appear to be high for production in quantity, a point to be noted is that, actually the growth rates of employment and production in quantity for that years are both negative but when we calculate the ratios the negative signs get cancelled. Therefore the ratio calculation has to be understood as being negative for that years than a positive one. 227

14 7.5.1 Status Of Innovations And Technology Information Dissemination in Khadi Industry In general we found that after the introduction of NMC further attempts to improvise the spinning technology are completely absent. Even the dissemination of NMC technology has been incomplete. It was observed in the field study that, particularly in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan generally for spinning woolen Khadi, traditional (single spindle) charkas are still in vogue, which not only involves drudgery but also has very low earnings capacity. From this observation one can easily deduce the reasons for lower earnings through spinning in those states as compared to states like Gujarat and Tamilnadu where average earnings are found to be much higher as they used only the higher spindle charakas of 4, 6, 8 and 12 for production of Khadi (for further discussion on spindles and higher earnings linkage refer to chapter 8). The negative impact of lower earnings on the livelihoods of the artisans in states using single spindle charkas needs no further explanation. In weaving also we found some innovations happening over the years. The Prayoga Samiti (the Research and Development (R&D) wing of KVIC in Ahmedabad) has developed new types of looms in order to reduce the occupational hazards for the weavers. However, the members of the Prayoga Samiti opined that it takes a longer gestation of time to implement those innovations into technologies in large scale. Further, it is observed that not many institutions have taken up R & D activities. They feel that there is no incentive (or rather no pressure) for them to conduct R & D activity as there is no provision for the same in the cost-chart. At the same time, they are not even aware of the R & D activities taking place in the Khadi industry (case of information flow asymmetry). Any in-house R & D activity carried by few institutions also gets restricted in scope due to lack of communication between the institutions. Field observation revealed that only institutions having strong economic backing are able to undertake R & D activities, implying that their exists capacity for the institutions to undertake R & D which needs to be further enhanced. It is observed that shed based weaving used better technologies (like metal frames) where as home based weaving continues to be on traditional type looms (pit looms) coupled with poor working conditions. There are technologies which are traditional but specialised design based like silk sareees of Kanchivaram in Tamilnadu or Patola sarees of Gujarat etc. which have a potential for niche market of its own even at international level. There is a need for such activities to be promoted directly 228

15 by the KVIC in order to make a way into the international market. Table 7.3: Dissemination of Information Regarding R & D activities of KVIC to the Institutions (Percent). Are institutions aware of any R & D Percentage activities taking place in KVIC Yes No Total Source: Questionnaire of Institutions Table 7.3 show that around 77% of the institutions were not aware of any R & D activity undertaken by the KVIC indicating that there exists a lot of information bottleneck between KVIC and the institutions. It was found that in Rajasthan some institutions are taking help of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) for development of designs, but this is through an Non-Governmental Agency (NGO) called Rural Non-Farm Development Agency (RUDA), which is now undertaking the designing and exporting the products made by local Khadi institutions. Table 7.4: Innovation Undertaken To Improve Khadi. Innovation undertaken Percentage To improve quality 4.30 To improve design/pattern To improve quality/design/pattern No innovation taken Total Source: Questionnaire of Institutions Table 7.4 shows that about 40.4% of the institutions have never introduced any innovation in quality, design or pattern, as there is no pressure to innovate. Besides these organisations are highly protected by the state too. Only 21.3% and 4.3% have introduced exclusively quality improvement and design/pattern innovation respectively. Rest of institutions (34%) introduced quality, improved design/pattern along with opening of bhandars and sales outlets. These innovations are also done 229

16 after a long gestation period i.e. there is a lot of time lag between innovation and actual implementation and that too mostly irregular. One can see that there is a large scope for improving the research and development in Khadi. The KVIC needs to be a facilitator in this regard, but its role will be qualitatively enhanced if institutions take some more initiatives in the process. KVIC also needs to tie up with external agencies involved in this area. A heartening point is that in the last 2-3 years, KVIC has taken a welcome initiative in this regard by tying up with National Institute of Design (NID) to improve quality and design. It should also try to get even the institutions involved with these types of agencies, so that there is an exchange of ideas and flow of information. An elaborate discussion with the NID experts, associated with the Khadi designing work, revealed that Khadi has an international market, as it is the sole producer of cloth below 20 count (existence of Capacity). Export of such clothe could be made possible with proper designing and dyeing to suit the international standards. They also feel that the uniqueness of Khadi is its hand spun and hand woven characteristics. NID, on request of KVIC, has prepared appropriate designs and dying to clear the stock from past 10 years. But there seems to be no utilisation of the work being done either due to lack of funds or commitment from both institutions and the KVIC. Encouragement and incentives should also be given to the skilled artisans who can contribute in research and development activities. There seems to be a lot of research and development activities already taking place in research centers and inhouse R & D activities in institutions. What is required is appropriate information dissemination of the already existing R & D to other institutions, adaptability of the same on behalf of institutions and properly channelised by KVIC. Moreover, traditional skills existing with the artisans' needs to be upgraded with time through tie up with agencies like NIFT or NID. Prayoga Samithi has also developed 'denim' fabric, which can be made competitive. However, in none of the sales bhandars which we have visited in the seven states could we trace the denim fabric. This clearly shows the gaps existing between the KVIC and its own R & D centres, and between the institutions and R&D centers. In addition to this lacuna, many innovations are restricted by laws and acts that 230

17 Govern the definition of Khadi. For example, Prayog Samiti has developed a new mix of cotton and jute, which is eco-friendly, strong and durable material, but the KVIC Act defining Khadi in traditional way restricts the innovation from being actualised. KVIC should also attempt to amend the act to incorporate new developments, which are eco-friendly and saleable. Moreover, the R & D activities would be better if done by professionals like NID and Prayog Samiti because of the years of experience that they have accumulated. KVIC should put in more effort in this regard by increasing its in-house R & D activities. KVIC should also increase its support, both financial and otherwise, so that research and development can gain some prominence to make Khadi survive in the current market scenario Budget Allocation For Research And Development R & D activities are largely supported by the budgetary sources through Khadi grant for Science and Technology (S & T). Unfortunately, this department seems to be the most neglected one; the budgetary grant allocation for this department has been constant for the past five years even without taking into consideration the inflation over the years (Table 7.5). It is, therefore, imperative on the KVIC to increase the grant for R&D activities. Table 7.5: Grant Disbursement for Khadi (S &T). Years Khadi Grant (S&T) (in Rs. crores) Source: Government of India (2000) Issue Of Labour Drudgery And Powerisation Of Charaka It is felt that powerisation of charkha is important to improve the quality of Khadi and reduce human drudgeries. This would even enable Khadi to compete with other cloth, by improving the productivity, reducing the cost and improving quality. This area is where we anticipate some resistance from institutions and KVIC. The 231

18 reasons sited are as follows: Gandhian ideology does not permit it. Most villages in the country don t have electricity. There will be over production that will only add to the already existing stock. The unique nature of Khadi as an eco-friendly cloth will go with powerisation because, this quality of the cloth that breathes is assumed to be due to the handspinning and hand-weaving qualities of Khadi. However during the interview with the Institutions many were in agreement for introduction of power in charka (Table 7.6). It can be pinpointed that Gandhiji was not against powerisation or introduction of any new technology but was open to any change as long as it helps the masses and does not go against employment generation. Which means that fundamentally Khadi has to sell. After detailed discussions with various experts from Prayog Samiti and institutions, it is found that, powerisation would not mean overproduction, because, a charkha cannot exceed its production capacity if the spinning through power is at the same pace as that of a hand spinning. Further, production can be controlled by limiting the raw material supplied in order to avoid surplus production. As for as the `no electricity in the villages argument goes, most places have power, albeit a little irregular. With a futuristic outlook and the pace with which infrastructure development is taking place in the rural areas with better technology, this problem of equitable distribution of power might be solved, in the long-run, by the Government. It was also opined by some experts that powerisation only means substitution of the power input, from hand to electricity, this would not compromise on the quality of Khadi cloth that is hand spun and hand-woven. Table 7.6: Powerisation of Charaka. Should power be introduced in Percentage Charkha Yes 45.7 No 31.4 No reply / can t say 22.9 Total Source: Questionnaire of Institutions There is definitely a need for powerisation in pre-weaving stage - which has 232

19 already been successfully experimented with. This will simultaneously contribute towards the development of the artisans family by freeing the additional family members involved in pre-weaving, particularly children for adequate schooling. The primary aim of Khadi industry has been that of employment generation and social emancipation. It is further felt that in the age of fast moving and ever changing technological progress to spend 8 hours a day spinning yarn by hand involves a lot of drudgery and pain which also goes against the objective of social mobility. Therefore sustained attempts should be made to use power in the charaka to reduce drudgery, enhance productivity and wages. A recent World Bank survey report by Liebl and Tirthankar Roy (2003) on Handicrafts of India observed that, there is need for comprehensive, coordinated research and documentation, both on an international and a national scale. Most international agencies involved with craft development also agree that there is a lack of hard data on the linkage between culture and development in general, and particularly in India. Further they feel that cultural activities are going to play an important role in the coming century, and that these technologies offer new means to evaluate and assess such cultural activities. Therefore research and documentation of traditional crafts is crucial for any policy planning on Handicrafts. In short we can say that Information network flow within KVIC and its agencies is quite poor. Technological Diffusion is incomplete and lack of sufficient financial assistance and pressure to innovate scuttle the progress of R & D. Moreover there is a need for comprehensive, coordinated research and documentation of innovations and its dissemination. 7.6 Summary And Conclusions The technology of production available with Khadi cannot even be compared to the existing modern high speed spinning and weaving machinery. Khadi Industry possesses quite a rudimentary technology from the time of its inception in both spinning and weaving. Later there was introduction of NMC (New Model Charka) with a range of spindles in spinning technology. Frame looms and design based jack looms for weaving of silk and special designed cotton sarees were introduced as part of improvement of weaving technology. It is really a Herculean task to disaggregate and look at improvements in production capacity, labour productivity and wage 233

20 improvement given the range of technological innovations which occurred in weaving and spinning across different states of the country from past five to six decades. However, here an attempt is made to analyse how introduction of a new technique of production in spinning (NMC), can have an impact on Production, sales, employment, wages and on the livelihood of the artisans to get an idea about Khadi industry after Theoretically it is expected that a change to or an introduction of new technology would bring about a phenomenal rise in, employment generation, production, sales etc. to cater to the employment demand of rural labour force in India, at least by giving them employment opportunities during off-season as envisaged by Gandhiji is taken as a bench-mark year for our further analysis as it happens to be the year when NMC as a new technology was introduced. Initially introduction of new technology of NMC improved the productivity to a large extent. But with the increase in Production, Sales could not be sustained for a long time as the marketing aspect has been largely neglected. Employment though increased initially but that too sustained a set back due to fall in demand. Even the earnings of artisans are found to be un-sustainable to support their families. Moreover, field observations revealed that a lack of dynamism in terms of information dissemination regarding R&D by KVIC, lack of in-house R&D by institutions, adaptation and further improvement in the technology are some other key elements for the descent of Khadi industry. There is definitely a need for powerisation in preweaving stage this will contribute towards the development of the artisans family by freeing the additional family members involved in pre-weaving, particularly children for adequate schooling. Further sustained attempts should be made to use power in the charaka to reduce drudgery, enhance productivity and wages. It takes a longer gestation of time to implement those innovations as technologies in large scale. Not many institutions have taken up R & D activities. There are no improvements to reduce the drudgery of the artisans from a long period of time. In short we can say that Information network flow within KVIC and its agencies is quite poor. Technological Diffusion is incomplete and though there exists physical capacity and opportunity to invent by sizeable institutions and KVIC research agencies, but lack of sufficient financial assistance and pressure to innovate scuttle the progress of R&D. Moreover there is a need for comprehensive, coordinated research and documentation of innovations and its dissemination. 234