Cottage industries were given importance in Pakistan’s five-year plan during early sixties of the 20th century so that both types of industries may develop side by side.
Cottage industry means the manufacture of goods at home by manual labor with a small capital, on a small scale, by a small number of workers, often comprising members of a single family. It is one of the most important industries in Pakistan. There was a time when homes and villages in Pakistan used to hum with activities connected with various types of cottage industries, and some of them acquired great reputation even in the foreign countries on account of the exquisite workmanship and artistic beauty of the industries. All these were either deliberately crushed out of existence or for lack of support of the rich or were unable to withstand the competition offered by machine-made goods.
This decline of our cottage industries undermined the economic stability of rural Pakistan. The advantages of cottage industries as enumerated above, are some of the reasons for their survival in this age of machinery. Another reason is that there still exists a class of people who prefer goods produced by machine. Even in highly industrialized countries like japan, Germany and Russia, there is a system of cottage industries. In Japan 49 percent of the industries are run under a domestic system.
Having regards to the great importance of cottage industries, they were given a prominent place in Pakistan’s five-year plan during early sixties of the 20th century in order that both types of industries may develop side by side, not on a competitive but on a complementary basis. The present rulers should rethink for revival of cottage industries and offer incentives to the people for revival of this neglected economic sector, which will definitely ease the unemployment issue.
Azra Batool Dahani
Karachi Sindh
