Development Potential of Bamboo-Based Household Industry: Case study of Gajole Block of Malda District (WB)

Gajole CD Block of Malda district, West Bengal has an overwhelming majority of the bamboo-based industrial units. They provide employment to the artisan workers. The sector also offers job opportunities to non-artisans during slack seasons of agricultural employment. In the absence of any organized activity in this sector and the products not being adequately remunerative, artisan workers are taking up alternate livelihood options and migrating to urban areas. The recent trend of globalization has exacerbated the problems of rural areas as these household industries are further marginalised. In such a situation the decay of a particular sector of employment poses a serious problem and obviously the rational solution seems to develop and make viable the traditional household industries. The distinguishing features of household industry is that it suffers from lack of sufficient capital, low access to markets, low technical and educational training, low levels of productivity and wages, low access to formal credit. In the present paper attempts have been made to analyse the development potential of bamboo based household industry in the study area in terms of increase of productivity of the units through Cobb-Douglas and Transcendental productions with explanatory variables of Labour, capital, education of entrepreneur, experience of entrepreneurs, life of household industry, distance from market and working conditions of the units. Analyzing the household industry of the study area may give some policy proposals not only to enhance the productivity of the said sector in the area but also of other areas having household industrial activities along with advantages of providing employment opportunities and elimination of regional disparity.