It is hard to agree with the Punjab Industries Minister, Jalaluddin Roomi's statement, made at his oath-taking as the newly elected President of the Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday, that optimum help is being extended to the cottage industries.
For, the evidence of effectiveness of 'optimum' help is missing unless some of the activity in Sialkot's sports goods production sector still qualifies to be listed as cottage industry.
There is a large number of traditional arts and crafts peculiar to various areas of our four provinces such as hand-made silver jewellery; appliqued 'rullies'; handloom woven cotton wraps, bed spreads and rugs; and pottery which, with the right kind of official attention, could generate a lot of economic activity. These cottage industries, in fact, need a helping hand, if only for the sake of preservation of our traditional arts and crafts.
At present our cottage industries fall within the purview of the Small Industries Corporation, which, as its name connotes, also looks after the small industries. In fact, its main interest lies with the latter.
The two areas, it hardly needs saying, are of different character and, therefore, demand different policy guidelines and, perhaps, separate supervisory bodies as well. Those working in the cottage industries are usually uneducated people with limited means - in many cases women - who are unfamiliar with the ways things work out in the outside bigger world.
As per an official definition, such an activity involves employer capital of no more than Rs 100,000 and the number of workers - excluding family members - has to be under 15. The sector's requirements are rather small and simple. A well-designed assistance programme can go a long way in its development.
Such a programme ought to focus on two crucial areas: providing access to finance and marketing facilities. Some financial assistance is going to it but on a limited scale while marketing facilities are few and far between.
The market potential of handicrafts and jewellery in local as well as foreign markets is enormous, indeed. It would be relevant to refer here to the example of India with which we happen to have some similarities in terms of traditional crafts.
It has developed the sector so well that handicrafts made in different parts of the country are easily available in its capital city's state-run emporiums as well as in other urban centres. Those who benefit from these facilities are not only the local people but also a large number of tourists looking for souvenirs to take back home. And some of the things are available in high-end western markets, fetching handsome profits for Indian traders who must share a part of their earnings with craftsmen and artisans in the cottage industries back home.
Then there is the example of Malaysia, where our Shaukat Aziz, discovered, during an official visit, that a state-sponsored 'One Village, One Product' scheme had been a huge success. So impressed was the former prime minister with what he saw that soon after his return home he ordered its replication in Pakistan.
It is hoped that despite the change in government, work on that project is still in progress. It is equally important to undertake focused efforts for the general promotion of our cottage industries.