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Issues of Productivity, Employment and Exploitation in Artisanal Silk Industry of West Bengal

Author

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  • Roy, Chandan
  • Roy Mukherjee, Sanchari

Abstract

Sericulture is an important livelihood option in rural West Bengal providing employment to more than 1 lakh families in the rural and semi-urban areas. The productivity level of sericulture (land and leaf) is not low compared to that of the major silk producing states in the country, which opens further scope to research and analyse about its productivity. This paper has explored several dimensions of its growth pattern during the planning periods of West Bengal. A field level survey in the major silk producing district of West Bengal has exposed few factors like household size and male hired labourers which are positively raising the level of average employment in the sericulture farms, while education level acts as a significant reducing factor, along with mandays involved with the activities. It implies sericulture is still only a popular livelihood activity among the backward people. On the other hand, small holding capacity of the rural farmers and poor economic condition of the artisans have been identified as major impediments in the path of development of sericulture in West Bengal. The rural moneylenders/ traders (dadani mahajan) utilizes this advantage and extracts a major part of the pay-off intruding into the supply chain of the industry. In the textile policy, the objective of the government always centres on the issues like extension of sericulture through acreage and production, ignoring the issues like ‘economic-exploitation’ faced by the artisanal classes at each level of value addition in the supply chain. In the absence of institutional apathy and well-linked credit system in the remote rural areas coupled with financial illiteracy of the rural artisans, the objective of development of artisanal silk industry in West Bengal seems to be far away.

Suggested Citation

  • Roy, Chandan & Roy Mukherjee, Sanchari, 2014. "Issues of Productivity, Employment and Exploitation in Artisanal Silk Industry of West Bengal," MPRA Paper 72841, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2015.
  • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:72841
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Roy, Chandan & Roy Mukherjee, Sanchari & Ghosh, Shantanu, 2012. "Sericulture as an Employment Generating Household Industry in West Bengal," MPRA Paper 43672, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Oct 2012.
    2. Rajan Kumar Gupta, 1980. "Birbhum Silk Industry: A Study of its Growth to Decline," The Indian Economic & Social History Review, , vol. 17(2), pages 211-226, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Roy, Chandan & Dey, Arindam, 2017. "Murshidabad Silk Industry in West Bengal: A Study of its Glorious Past & Present Crisis," MPRA Paper 92847, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Rathore, Rahul A. & Sonawane, Madulika A. & Roy, Chandan, 2019. "Technology Advancement & Its Adoption: A Booster for Sericulture Development and Expansion in Madhya Pradesh, India," MPRA Paper 94164, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 May 2019.

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    1. Roy, Chandan & Dey, Arindam, 2017. "Murshidabad Silk Industry in West Bengal: A Study of its Glorious Past & Present Crisis," MPRA Paper 92847, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Rathore, Rahul A. & Sonawane, Madhulika A & Chandan, Roy, 2019. "Sericulture: An Economic Boon for Madhya Pradesh (special reference to Burhanpur District)," MPRA Paper 94843, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Jun 2019.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Productivity; Employment; Exploitation; Sericulture; Silk Industry; West Bengal;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

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