Cottage industry needs dedicated industrial city

LAHORE: Successive governments have failed to provide home-based cottage industry with a suitable cottage industrial park; though planners did unsuccessfully try to accommodate them in small-sized plots within industrial estates built for small and medium industries.

The home-based cottage industries almost always refused to move into these industrial estates. There was a reason behind this reluctance. The workforce in cottage industries was almost always provided by the family members.

These operators chose their residence for manufacturing as it saved resources and time both. It would have been next to impossible for the entire family to commute daily from their residence to the industrial estate. Moreover, these industries could not afford to hire workers from outside the family.

They would willingly go to a dedicated industrial estate if they were allowed to build their residence on the second or third floor of the manufacturing facility. But the industrial rules prohibit building of residences in the industry. This rule works for relatively larger industries, but for very smaller ones it has been a hindrance.

While the law also does not permit establishing industries in residential areas, cottage industries do exist in large numbers in most middle or lower middle income colonies. Uprooting them from their bread earning site would disrupt millions and create unrest.

Most of them could be persuaded to move to a dedicated cottage industry park if the provincial governments took the initiative.

These industries faced numerous problems while operating in a residential colony. They were subjected to frequent scheduled and unscheduled load shedding. They have to pay commercial rate for the power they consume.

The availability of the required quantity of water for some of their processes was suspect. They faced protests from their neighbours. And despite having resources, they could not move to dedicated industrial areas. This calls for establishing dedicated cottage industry parks in all provinces where the rules allow the cottage industry operators to build residences on the first or second floor of their factories. Operating in an industrial estate with all amenities and common facility centres would help the small cottage producers establish larger facilities in the SME estates. According to Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority, over 3.2 million SMEs were established in the country. Majority of these in fact were cottage industries operating from their residences.

They produced plastic products and parts from small plastic moulding machines. Abrupt power supply cuts inflict heavy losses on such industries, as the melted plastic solidifies and has to be heated again.

They produce handmade carpets; home textile items from handlooms, handicrafts, toys, pottery and numerous other items. All the family members contribute in the manufacturing and packing processes.

If we looked at China, the global manufacturing hub, we could observe that now, instead of industrial estates they were establishing industrial cities, which means that the workers and their families lived within the premises of the factories.

In Pakistan only textile spinning sector operated on this concept. A workers colony, established adjacent to the mill, gets free power, gas and subsidised daily use items through factory outlets. It was because of this reason that when the going was good, the spinning mills operated 24/7 for 364 days a year. They only observed one yearly holiday on Ashura.

Punjab government has also asked the Punjab Industrial Estates Development and Management Company to establish an industrial city. The company has already launched eight industrial estates from its own resources. It has the potential to establish industrial city without government finances. Punjab government was also converting this company into an authority to make it autonomous.