‘ I

IMPACT OF THE DROUGW OF 1985-1988 OF! JETPUR DYEING AM) PRINTING INDUSTRY

( Saurashtra . - Gujarat )

by : Véronique DUPONT ORST OM French I n s t i t u t e ob S c i e n t i f i c Research f o r Development through Co-operation 213 Rue La Fayet te - 75 480 PARIS - FRAXCE. Vi s i t i ng scholar at t h e Gujarat I n s t i t u t e o f Area Planning - GOTA - 382 481 - d i s t . Ahmedabad

Paper presented a t t he : 19th Annual Conference of t h e Gujarat Economic Association 11th and 12 th February 1989 Bhuj c d i s t , Xutch - Gujarat

Sess ion : Economics of draught i n Gujarat,

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1

...

IXPACT OF THE DROUGHT OF 1985-1988 OR JETPUR DYEING AM) PRIhTTIhTG INDUSTRY

Véronique DWONT ORST OM

The object ive o f this paper i s t o appraise the impact o f the drought on

the dyeing and pr in t ing industry i n Je tpur , i n Saurashtra. Being based on a water intensive process, this industry i s par t icu lar ly vulnerable t o this type of scarci ty . Saurashtra is known as a &-ought prone area, though, with the last three years o f reccurring drought. (1985-86, 1986-87, 1987-88), this i s t h e first time i n the h is tory of J e tpu r pr in t ing industry that the consequences on economic a c t i v i t y Wer8 s o dramatic.

We shall review the various adverse e f f ec t s o f t he drought on this industry, but we sha l l a l s o t r y t o give a more qual i f ied appraisal of the s i t ua t ion by showing how ce r t a in i n d u s t r i a l i s t s could take advantage of some Tavourable

f ac t ors . But first o f a l l , a b r i e f presentation o f the data used, as well as a

general view on Je tpu r dyeing and pr in t ing industry a r e necessary.

A - SOURCE OF THE D N A . (1)

The f inding presented i n t h i s paper a re based on an ongoing research concerned with indus t r i a l i s a t ion and urban development i n Indian middle-sized towns. The main object ive i s t o invest igate the ro l e of t he labour markets i n d u s t r i a l mediam towns, l i k e Je tpur , i n a t t r ac t ing migrants.

of

I n the case study of Je tpur , the da ta col lected a r e issued f r o m t w o demo-

economic surveys. The first one i s a household survey on migration and em- ployment which has been conducted f r o m January t o A p r i l 1988 i n a 10 % sample

of 2400 households were surveyed.

households of t h e urban agglomeration and of a few surrounding vi l lages . - -_

- The second one is a survey o f eeonomiu eetablishments of the dyeing and prin- t i n g industry : in-depth interviews with 50 i n d u s t r i a l i s t s have been carr ied out i n NovemBkrcDecember 1988 . As the processing of t h e inf0I"tion Collected i s still gaine; on, e;nd as the f i e l d study has t o be completed by another round of observation, our paper

should be considered more as an exploratory essay pointing out d i rec t ions

-. of research f o r f u r t h e r invest igat ion, than as a communication s t a t ing conclusive result S.

.I

(1) For fu the r i n fomat ion on the surveys conducted, see : DUPONT V.- In tegra t ion o f c i r c u l a r mob i l i t y i n the analysis o f urban dynamics. Reflect ions and methodological implications - example of middledsized towns in India. Paper presented at soc ia l changes and development. P a r i s (France), 20-22 Sept. E988.

JBurnges ddmographiques de 1'ORSTOM" - Migration,

$

C . - 2 -

B - GEN- VIEW ON JJEPUR DYEING AND PRINTING INDUSTRY.

B-1- Sett ing up and development.

J e tpu r i s a medium-sized town located i n Rajkot d i s t r i c t , i n Saurashtra. I t s economic development i s based on a mono industry : t he dyeing and pr in t ing o f cotton saris.

Dyeing of c lo th w a s a t r ad i t i ona l craft whose or ig in i n Je tpu r goes back t o

at l e a s t two centur ies ago. Block pr int ing s t a r t ed developing around 1930.

Tn 1947 the t e c h i q u e t h e p r in t e r s sh i f t ed f r o m block pr int ing t o screen printing. The best expanding period for t he dyeing and pr int ing industry i n Je tpur took

place f r o m 1965 t o 1983. For the last four years the industry has faced an economic c r i s i s , mainly due tokeener competition and lack of demand, increased by the effect of drought on water supply,

of s c r e m print ing w a s introduced, and i n the f i f t i e s

The number of i ndus t r i a l units has gone up t o 1200, a l l o f them belonging t o t h e small sca le sector. However, due t o a common pract ice amongst t he i n d u s t r i a l i s t s t o divide t h e i r concern i n small-sized administrative uni t s , i n order t o avoid extra taxes and t o escape the labour leg is la t ion , these 1200 units correspond only t o about 500 individual entrepreneurs or.fmilial groups. A s far as employment generation i s concerned, t he m a x i m u m capacfk;y o f J e tpu r pr int ing industry amounts t o about 40 O00 workers.

The considerable expansion of this industry over t he last f o r t y years i s also

rendered by the rapid population growth of t he town, indicat ing a high in- migration. Between 1971 and 1981 the decennial growth r a t e was 50.4 %, with

a population amounting t o 63 074 i n 1981. Today the suburb, Navagadh, and cons t i tu tes a l toge the r an urban agglomeration with

a t o t a l population of about 100 O00 (2). The pr in t ing industry not only leads the e n t i r e urban economic ac t iv i ty , but i t a l s o provides employment orpportunities fornumbers of commuters living i n t h e sursounding villages.

urban and industrial spread of Je tpu r a l s o includes an adjacent

(1) For fu the r information on Je tpu r dyeing and pr int ing industry, see : @iR.Al? ILS. - Economics of c lo th pr in t ing i n the decentral i red sector, .i - ---e I

A study o f handprinting i n Je tpu r (Gujarat) ; G I R I I n s t i t u t e o f Development Studies, Lucknow, July 1985.

?

. TFUvHlI R.K. - Block aad screen pr int ing at J e t p ~ r , i n : Census of India,.1961, Vol. V - p a r t V I I - A , Selected c r a f t s o f Gujarat (NO 20). Central Govermant Publications, Delhi, 1970.

(2) T h i s estimation i s based on the proviBiona1 results o f t he household survey.

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B-2- Process of production.

To be

and print ing industry, a minimum i s required.

able t o understand t h e various e f f ec t s of t h e drought on t h e dyeing

knowledge about the process o f production

. ~ r ~ n ~ i ~ - t & n & ~ e

*he dyeing and pr int ing industry i n Je tpu r saris. T h i s is a labour intensive industry i s en t i r e ly manual.

%he main operations consist of preparation

special izas i n pr in t ing o f cotton and the process of production

of dye solutions, pr int ing by the means of screensof the f a b r i c previously spread on long wooden tables , s i l i c a t i n g or steaming process ( t o develop t h e colours), washing, ironing and pressing, folding and packaging o f t he sar is .

0 @p$=nEe_af t&e-wgtgr-ig ihz pgczs= o-fjF d p i i g n .

Water i s an essen t i a l element i n t h e dyeing and pr int ing process : suf f ic ien t quant i t ies as well as adequate qual i ty Water i s first a s e d i n t h e preparation o f t h B colour solutions;, t o solve the dyes. Then l a rge quant i t ies o f water a re required t o wash the saris. For th,ese two operations t h e qual i ty o f t h e water i s a l s o important. A good moun t of

water is a l s o needed t o wash the t ab le s on which the saris a re printed, t he

screens, buckets and o ther t o o l s .

o f water have t o be provided.

The Bhadar r iver , which flows i n Jetpur , i s famous f o r i t s special propert ies that help i n developing the colours and prints. This is the main reason for t h e in i t ia l locat ion and concentration of dyeing and pr int ing c r a f t i n this

area. I n the past the saris were washed d i r e c t l y in the river. Nowadays the flow of the r i v e r i s quiBe insufficient t o fulf i l t h e requirements’of the increased

number of pr in t ing factor ies . Besided the construction i n 1964 of a dam on the Bhadar r iver, 22 kilomekes upstream from Jetpur , has considerably reduced the flow of t h e riser.

Ea= =a~e~&a&s.

The r a w materialscan be divided i n t w o categories, as far es the possible

impact of the drought i s concerned.

The first one consists o f t h e r a w materials issued from agr icu l tura l products

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and whose supply ßan be d i r ec t ly affected by drought : there a r e .. cotton Cloth, p ~ m and *=h. . ' .

Cotton c lo th from power looms i s the basic and pr incipal r a w material req~rea

in this industry. *But the question of c loth supply should be s t a t ed i n different terms, according t o the system o f production adopted by t h e entrepreneur.

In t he most frequent system, known as "job-work" system, and which concerns

7.5 $ €o 80 % of the pr in t ing un i t s , t he entrepreneurs undertake pr in t ing wo& only on contract base. They receive the cotton c lo th t o be pr inted from the

t r ade r s who provide them the orders SariS. Thus t h e f ac to r s which can a f fec t the c lo th supply concern o f these i n d u s t r i a l i s t s . I n the a l t e rna t ive system, cal led "own business" system, the entrepreneurs

and onsu.re the marketing o f t he pr inted a re not the d i r e c t

work. as independent establishments : they purchase the c l o t h

t o be printed and have also t o take i n charge the marketing o f the saris.

Gum i s used i n the preparation o f the colour solut ions as a thickening agent. It is extracted f r o m a leguminous p lan t , t he "gowar", which ri.s grown

par t icu lar ly i n Rajasthan.

Starch i s extracted from maize.It i s used t o prepare a mixturein which the saris

a r e passed through a f t e r washing, t o a t t a i n hardness.

The o ther category o f r a w materiab cons is t s o f synthet ic products, whose supply does not depend d i r ec t ly on cl imat ic conditions. There a re , first of

all, synthet ic dyes, and o ther chemicals used t o develop the colours ( a c i t i c acid, sodium n i t r a t e , caus t ic soda, sodium s i l i c a t e . . . 1.

LmEazt-og sl=u$&c $ongit-iop-oE thz EcassE sf pzdzc t ign .

A wet atmosphere i s not su i t ab le f o r pr int ing, bes ide t h e saris are t o be dried out i n sun l i g h t o r i n dry air. Therefore monsoon is t h e s lack season f o r p r in t ing work. Most o f t he sari f ac to r i e s cannot run during a l l

the year and have t o c lose seasonally. However few f a c t o r i e s are equippawith "hot tables", that is t a b l e s with al. heating system, i n order t o dry the dye. solut ions applied on t h e

s a r i s , and thus enabling the pr in t ing process t o operate even during the

mo bso o n .

,

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The cotton saris o f J e tpu r are produced mainly f o r the lower and lower-middle classes, and they a re s o l d a l l over India. Proportionally, Gujarat represents

only a very small par t of the whole market, as-for Saurashtra part, i t i s ins igni f i c q t . Large quant i t ies of saris are a l s o sent t o Bangladesh some t o S r i Lanka. A f e w units in Je tpu r a lso p r in t lrkhangasw and "mishars", piecesl of c lo th used by African and Arab women as head gear, which a re exported t o Bas t Africa and Middle-East countries.

from Calcutta, and

C - EFFECTS OF THE DROUGHT

A t t he first s ight , the last drought had catastrophic wnaequences on Je tpu r

printing indus t ry ' , a s a r e s u l t o f water shortage and lack o f demand. The s i t u a t i o r described by the President o f J e tpu r Dyeing and Pr in t ing Association i n October func t ion9ng, the reduction i n the production estimated at 50 %, and the

l e v e l o f employment evaluated at 15 O00 as compared t o a m a x i " eapacity o f 40 000. A t that time, predictiorsmade for the next months and more par t icuJar ly next summer were even worse : a l l the f a c t o r i e s muld be

eoadsmned t o s top t h e i r production due t o water scarci ty . Fortunately for Je tpur , t h i s expectation proved t o be over-pessimistic, and the pr in t ing industry w a s not compelled t o discontinue i t s production, even

i n summer 198E. The f igures given by the Indus t r ies Association seem a l s o

1987 w a s very alarming : 6 0 % t o 70 $% o f the units stopped

*plopent

exaggerated as compared t o the r e s u l t s o f our own investigations. We would l i k e t o give here a more qua l i f ied appraisal o f thesi tuat ion, by

presenting a review of t he various e f f e c t s of t he drought on t h e pr in t ing industry, t h e adverse e f f e c t s but a l s o t he favourable ones.

c-1- S h o r t w e of water.

Its process of production being water i n t ens ive , ' t ke dyeing and pr in t ing industry was h i t i n t he first place by shortage of water resu l t ing from drought To ensure the funct ioning buy water from r u r a m b r i n g it back by means o f tankers. They had a l s o

t o send the saris f o r washing t o places where water was available i n suf f ic ien t q u m t i t i b s , sometimes up t o 90 kilometres àway from Jetpur*

of t h e i r establ-ents, t he indus t f ia1 is t s had t o

~. TUS resu l ted i n increasing the cost of water i n the cost of production of

t h e saris. T,he average pr in t ing cost of a sari is 8 t o 10 rupees 9 including a l l cos t s of production except cloth. Out of i t the cost of water

Y .

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i n normal climatic conditions ranks f r o m 0.05 t o 0.25mpee. per sari, but during the drought i t amounted up t o 0.20 t o 0.60mpee' per sari.

The problem o f water supply was not faced i n the same terms by a l l the establishments. Some very small units pointed out t ha t t h e i r requirement i n water w a s very modest due t o t h e i r l imited processing capacity , and thus

it did not r a i s e great d i f f i c u l t i e s ; whereas i n the biggest units the la rge quant i t ies of water required made t h e problem o f supply more tacute.

Another important f ac to r o f d i f fe ren t ia t ion has t o be taken in to consideration :

whether t h e entrepreneur has h i s o m independent source o f water, i n pa r t i cu la r wells i n agr icu l tura l f i e l d s , and his own washing ghats. From this point o f view t h e i n d u s t r i a l i s t s belonging t o t h e Pa te l community, f r o m famil ies o f a g r i c u l t u r i s t s owning f i e l d s , may have had an advantage, providing the source o f water -if any- w a s not dried up during the drought.

The imperative search f o r water even 1e.d . to more o r l e s s $llega1 For example t o go beyond the water consumption quota imposed t o t he industry

by the government because o f t he drought, some i n d u s t r i a l i s t s brought back tankers o f water f r o m v i l lages even at night t o avoid controls.

I n April 1988, t he co l lec tor of Rajkot had t o take action against the indus- trialists f r o m J e tpu r who were using e l e c t r i c m o t o m t o pump water from the Bhadar dam and o ther reservoirs : 50 motors were seized. I n the same area 120 ghats for washing saris were a l s o broken, t o f i gh t against water pollution(1).

practices.

Saurashtra being a drought prone

had t o face problem o f water scarcity. But i n the past t h e number o f sari

pr in t ing f ac to r i e s w e s lower, thus the t o t a l quantity o f water required f o r the industry was less important than today. Besides, t h e last t h e e years

o f recurzkng *drought (1985-86, 1986-8'7, 1987-88) made the sca rc i ty o f water much more severe.

area, Je tpu r pr in t ing industry had already

However, t h e shortage of water was not absolute , f o r t he i n d u s t r i a l i s t s it turned t o be first a problem of increasing cos t of production : water w a s

.Bot eas%ly'available, but still obtainable f o r the ones who could afford it. r

v_ _-

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(1) source : ~ C W , 20-4-1988

- 7 - C-2- Increase i n t h e pr ices of r a w materials.

Due t o drought, &he pr ices o f r a w material issued from agr icu l tura l products - cotton cloth, gum, s t a rch - increased, following a deficiency i n the crops o f t he corresponding agr icu l tura l s t ap le products,

Gowar crop i n pa r t i cu la r was dramatically affected by the drought t ha t h i t Rajasthan, where this leguminous plant is grown. Consequently t h e p r i ce o f

f l a r e d up : it t r i p l e d , from 20 rupees. pe r kilogram before the drought up

t 60 mpëes: pler kilogram.

The r a t e of cotton c lo th a l s o increased i n 1987-88. However the grey c lo th market i s a very f luc tua t ing and speculative one, it i s affected by not anly

.." t h e l eve l o f cotton supply, but a l s o by various o ther f ac to r s l i k e t h e Government

of India export policy. Thus it is d i f f i c u l t t o appraise the spec i f ic impact

o f drought on the l eve l o f prices. On the o the r h a d , f o r t h e three f o u r u s of t he establishments i n Je tpur printing: industry , those urorkihg O h contract , t h e pr ice o f c lo th

i s not a component o f t h e i r cost of production, as the c lo th is provided

by t h e t r ade r s who give the orders. I

C13- A dry weather more favourable f o r printing work.

AS we already mentioned , monsoon o r even m o i s t

atmosphere i s not su i tab le f o r printing. On the contrary, the three years o f recurring drought b m u g ~ h m a t i c conditions more favourable f o r pr int ing work. The sari f ac to r i e s were not compelled t o stop t h e i r production f o r

t w o o r t h ree months because o f t h e monsoon . -as they - usually are.

The number of working days could be s igni f icant ly higher .- provided t h e establishment was not obliged t o close due t o o ther d i f f i c u l t i e s faced during the drought.

For example, i n the sample of 50 i n d u s t r i a l i s t s interviewed, t h e number of rking days reported i n 1987 amounts t o 247 on an average, as against 222

w rking days i n 1988 (year with a good monsoon). I n some establishments

t e gain o f working days Ln the year of r a i n sca rc i ty i s more than 60 days, up t o 77 days i n i n half o f t h e establishments t h e production declared w a s s ign i f icant ly

higher i n 1987 than i n 1988.

extreme cases. Concerning now t h e number of saris printed, 7

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Moreover, at the question "When w a s t he best period f o r your business, i n

respect t o production,since you have been running this factory ? I 1 , 16. indus- t r i a l i s t s out o f 50 a'nswered the years - o r one o f the years- o f the l a s t drought, f r o m 2985-86 up t o June 1988, and they mention.ed e x p l i c i t l y the good climatic conditions f o r pr int ing as *main reason,

I n f ac t , f o r t h e i n d u s t r i a l i s t s who could solve the problem of water supply, and whose market w a s not affected (see below), t he years of drought proved t o be prosperous Ones , as f a r as the l e v e l o f production i s concerned.

C-4- Impact on the demand.

Besides the shortage o f water, another main adverse e f fec t o f the drought on the pr in t ing industry w a s the slump i n demand, especially i n 1967, due t o t he extent o f the drought i n many p a r t s of the country.

P a l l i n populations' purchasing power reduced demand f o r consumer goods, l i k e saris, especial ly i n r u r a l areas d i r ec t ly affected by the crop fa i lure . Now, the consum,'ers o f J e tpu r s a r i s a r e mainly v i l l age women.

Indeed , many i n d u s t r i a l i s t s complained about the general depression o f

the market during the years o f drought, and the subsequent reduction o f orders.

However, the s i t u a t i o n may d i f f e r considerably among the establishments, accor- ding t o t he places o f marketing o f the saris and the capacity o f adaptation o f the i n d u s t r i a l i s t s t o the c h w i n g conditions o f t he market.

The u n i t s whcse market i s concentrated i n regions severely s e r e obviously t h e most affected, and i n t h e first place the establishments whose main market is Guj arat . But we found a l s o some paradoxid s i tua t ions . LBt us mention f o r example t h e case o f this i n d u s t r i a l i s t whose sar is a r e sold i n North Gujarat, and who

pointed out that the demand w a s even b e t t e r during t h e drought i n 1987-88 than during a year with a normal monmon. According t o him, t he implementation o f r e l i e f works by the governDent, especial ly i n 1988 when the system w a s funct iomng- regular ly , provided "steady" e m p l o p n t gjr t he r u r a l people .

agr i cu l tu ra l season.' Thus t h e i r purchasing power i n summer 1988 proved to be

5it by the drought

-.

throughout t h e yeay whereas usually they get employed only during the

b e t t e r than usual.

some major markets f o r Je tpur saris were not affected by the last drought : this is i n pa r t i cu la r t h e case of Bihar, West Bengal (and Bengladesh through

Calcutta), Maharashtra. Thus t h e establishments whose saris are sold i n these areas should not have suffered from lack o f demand.

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i

Moreover, i n West Bengal Puja Fest ival , which f a l l s i n October o r November,

i s t h e peak season f o r sari sa l e s : i n order t o face this hike i n the demand, the i n d u s t r i a l i s t s have t o p r in t t he saris i n August-September, which r a i s e s d i f f i c u l t i e s during a good monsoon. So the years o f r a in sca rc i ty turned t o

be very prof i tab le t o these i n d u s t r i a l i s t s , by ensuring more favourable

c l imat ic conditions t o p r in t during t h e i r peak season.

J e tpu r sar is being s o l d a l l over Ind ia q d i n some foreign countries ( l i k e Bengladesh) , some important markets remained unaffected by the thus thle demand did not shrink dramatically f o r a l l the establishments. Some i n d u s t r i a l i s t s even managed t o take advantage dry weather favourable f o r pr int ing work and o f a buoyantdemand market S.

drought,

o f t he combination o f a on cer ta in

c-5- Fierce competition, reduction o f margin o f p r o f i t and closure of fac tor ies .

Though se lec t ive ly affected by the drought, the s a r i market was globally depressed, and the s l ack i n demand resul ted i n a keener competition amongst t he i n d u s t r i a l i s t s i n Jetpur. To snatch contracts m t raders , some i n d u s t r i a l i s t s were ready t o lower t h e i r pr ice . Therefore it. w a s not possible t o t r a n s f e r t h e increasing costt o f production (mainly the ex t ra cost o f water and o f cer ta in r a w mater ia ls) t o the pr in t ing pr ices o f

t h e saris. Besides the t r a d e r s would argue tha t the conditions o f the market ( fa l l i n consumers' purchasing power) d i d

s a l e s pr ices of saris. Consequently the margin of p ro f i t i n t he sari pr in t ing

industry w a s cut down.

not allow Wem t o increase the

Faced with such d i f f i c u l t i e s , t he i n d u s t r i a l i s t s reacted i n various ways.

Some of them admitted that they used r a w mater ia ls of a lower qual i ty i n order t o maintain t h e i r margin of pro f i t , o r at l e a s t t o r e a l i z e a minimum p r o f i t . On t h e contrary, o the r ones refused t o compromise on the qual i ty o f t he pr int ing, i n order t o preserve t h e reputat ion of t h e i r work amongst t h e t raders , and

they r a the r prefered t o incur loss, o r t o close t h e i r wit temporarily.

P r i o r i t i e s could also d i f f e r : f o r some it w a s first a question of continuing

the production i n order t o s a t i s f y t h e i r commitment t o the t raders and t o maintain t h e i r pos i t ion on t h e market. For others , reputation through

qual i ty o f work w a s t h e most important thing.

. .

I . ,

t - 10 - But some i n d u s t r i a l i s t s had j u s t no choice, and were compelled t o close t h e i r un i t because they could not a f f o r d t o spend more on water and / o r d i d not get any orders.

The s m a l l establishments proved t o be the mos t vulnerable, f o r many o f them

were already Buffering from i ndus t r i a l sickness f o r t he past years. On the contrary the big establishments were b e t t e r armed against the d i f f i c u l t i e s brought i n by the drought. Their f i nanc ia l means allowed them t o bear the increasing cost of production and t o lower t h e i r pr int ing pr ices t o face the competition. Generally t h e i r market i s a l s o more divers i f ied, so that they could compensate a lack of debmd o r even a loss incurred on a spec i f ic market by s a l e s rea l iza t ions on o ther markets. Moreover - . the biggest i n d u s t r i a l i s t s

have

o f t h e i r saris than the i n d u s t r i a l i s t s depending on the orders provided by

a l s o t h e i r own t rading wen-and thus a b e t t e r control on t h e market

I traders.

As a f ac t the establishments which were condemned t o close during the drought were ,. small o r middle-sized un i t s , working on contract base , and not the big ones, nor the independent business establishments.

Another charac te r i s t ic o f the establishments which closed i s tha t they were mainly ' functioning i n rented premisesi I n Je tpu r the entrepreneurs car. rent OP,.&% t8mpQrax-y baee a fac tory already e q u i p d t o carry out pr int ing work. . This system which concerns 35 % t o 40 % o f the u n i t s i s adopted by entrepreneurs who do not own f ixed asse ts , o r by i n d u s t r i a l i s t s who already own a factory and resor t t o this solut ion when they have t o face ex t ra orders . Whenever

I

I there i s a: slump i n demand, t he pr int ing u n i t s " i n g on a r e n t a l base a re the first ones t o be affected by t h e adjustment of the production. An indi rec t evidence o f the exteñt of the closure of rented f ac to r i e s during

was twioe:.i&='thrice lower . :: . t h e drought i s given by the decrease of the rent t on an average the rent

' $ time.

I Though our survey does n o t enable us t o give an estimation of t he proportion

o f units closed during t h e drought, all t h e information col lected tend t o

prove that the s i t ua t ion w a s not as a laming as described by the I n d u s t r i a l

But t he establiehmenf~ which discontinued t h e i r production during t he drought .did not c lose def ini t ively, generally they resumed t h e produation as soon as t h e s i t ua t ion improved, mainly a f t e r the monsoon of 1988.

In our sample of i n d u s t r i a l establishments, only 4 i n d u s t r i a l i s t s out of 50 had t o discontinue t h e i r production f o r several months during the dmught, due t o lack o f orders and/or t h e t r incapacity t o cope w i t h y k r t a g e of water.'

l

- 11 - C-6- Reduction of the l eve l o f employment.

For Je tpu r pr int ing industry considered as a whole, the reduction o f the production t o adjust t o the slack i n demand and the closure o f f ac to r i e s a lso a f f ec t ed the l eve l of employment. Except f o r t h e dyers who a re employed on a regular base and sa la r ied , most

o f the workers i n Je tpu r pr int ing industry a r e engaged on a dai ly base a d

paid easy f o r t e i n d u s t r i a l i s t s t o adjust the l eve l of employment t o the f luc tua t ions i n the o r e r s . Consequently one should expect an increase of unemplloyment f igures r e E u l t ing a f t he economic d i f f i c u l t i e s brought i n by the drought.

according t o a piece r a t e system. I n such a system i t i s therefore very

Surprisingly, the number o f unemployed recorded i n o u r household survey i s very low. Amongst th$vcarkers o f the dyeing and pr int ing industry, only 3.8 76 reported to have been unemployed i n 1987 f o r the whole year o r more than four months (1). This f igu re concerns the labour force living in Je tpu r urban agglomeration and the surrounding v i l lages within a radius of 8 k i l o -

metres aroundJetpur. It may be possible tha t the commuters coming. f r o m a fu r the r distance %G work i n the pr int ing industry have been more affected by the reduction o f employment than the workers l i v ing i n the urban agglomeration o r t h e near-b vi l lages . I n a s i tua t ion of scarc i ty o f employment, t h e workers

Unemployme 1 t which hit the i n d u s t r i a l workers may a l s o be par t ly dis,guisled by out-migration and occupational mobility.

[ W O n

from Je tpu i mdght hawe b e t t e r contacts t o get job.

I Our household survey enables us t o estimate t h e proportion o f out-migrants who 2

I l e f t during 1983-87, from the households surveyed a t t he beginning of 1988, But , if a l l the members o f a household out-migrated together, they

could not be recorded by our survey. Nevertheless, though p a r t i a l , t he da ta cbl lected can pravids some in t e re s t ing information. I n t h e households surveyed, t h e proportion o f out-migrants within the labour force amounts t he worker of t h e sari pr in t ing i n d u s t q , it goes up t o q.4 % (2).

t o 4.3 % from 1983 t o 1987, but i f we consides only ybCb4

he grodrrCHbfi m r k e r s f r o m t h e pr in t ing industry represent 47 $%

of the out migrant labour force, against 30 $% of t h e present labour force. These f i g u I es s h o w t h a t t he workers f r o m t he pr in t ing industry have been more affected by out-migration than the r e s t o f the working population, --

(1) The dyeing and pr in t ing industry being seasonal, i r r egu la r i ty of work and p a r t i a l unemployment a re common fea tures o f t he workers' fa te . Therefore t o a p p r a i s e the spec i f ic impact of t he drought on t h i s industry, we have considere thas

(2) These proportions of out-migrants a r e t h e observed proportions, that is without taking in to account t h e e f f ec t of mortality.

here only t he duration of unemployment s ign i f icant ly longer

c

J

k'

k c

z

- 12 - indicat ing most probably industry.

a more severe deter iorat ion i n employment i n this

As far as the occupational mobility i s concerned, some worgers from the pr int ing industry found employment i n t h e diamond-cutting f ac to r i e s recent ly s e t vupl I n the last three years a h u t 20 u n i t s s ta r ted , i n Je tpu r and some surrounding vi l lages , which must have a t t r a c t ed unemployed workers.

From the point of"..risin o f the indus t r i a l i s t s , t he s i t ua t ion o f labour surplus during the drought w a s appraiselas a posi t ive fac tor , at l e a s t f o r those who maintained t h e i r factory open. They underlined the fact that during t h e drought labour w a s avai lable without d i f f i c u l t i e s , whereas a f t e r last monsoon, when a l l t h e factor ies resumed prodaction, they had t o face a r e l a t i v e

shortage of labour, f o r workers coming from r u r a l areas engaged i n agr icu l tura l works, while others had out-migrated or sh i f ted t o diamond-cutting factor ies .

have been mainly

c oh' CLUSIOK

Drought had a t w o f o l d adverse impact on Je tpur dyeing and pr int ing industry. F i r s t of all it d i r ec t ly affected the process o f production by way o f water shortage and increasing cost o f cer ta in r a w materials. Secondly it caused slack i n demand. But one should a l s o point out a posi t ive effect : dry weather ensured b e t t e r climatic conditions for print ing work.

The resul t ing consequences on t h e l eve l o f production, closure o f f ac to r i e s

and the l eve l of employment proved t o be less alarming than what aeme i n d u s t r i a l i s t s claimed when faced with the drought. The a p p r a i s a l o f t he various e f fec ts o f t he drought on the pr int ing industry has t o be qualified. Overall one should underline that the impact has been very se lec t ive amongst

the setablishments, and several important f ac to r s of d i f f e ren t i a t ion have t o be considered.

The most dramatically affected establishments were the small ones, working on contract , i n rented premises, and whose market w a s concentrated i n regions severely hit by drought. On the contrary some establishments d i d not su f f e r much, and even managed t o take advantage of t h e dry weather t o increase t h e i r production. Such cases concern mainly t h e biggest i n d u s t r i a l i s t s , working independently, having t h e i r own t rading agencies, and whose market, is

more d ivers i f ied and includes i n pa r t i cu la r Bihar and West Bengal, two major markets f o r cotton saris which remained unaffected by the last