Technological choice and socio-economic imperative: a case study of textile technologies in India

Abstract

Textiles being the only commodity - other than food - in universal and continuous demand, a primary way to provide and sustain employment on a large scale and continuous basis could be an appropriate technology in the textile industry. Hand-spinning - a rural women's industry - can survive only with a large and expanding market, which in turn can be achieved only with more application of scientific research leading to lower costs of production and higher quality of the textiles. More R & D in Khadi (i.e. hand-spun and hand-woven textiles) industry, could go a long way. The application of the modern principle of open-end spinning to the hand-spinning instrument can dramatically raise the output per worker, without substantially increasing the cost of the instrument. An experimental hand-spinning instrument, called Dabba-Kataai instrument, has recently been constructed with the application of the open-end-spinning principle. Comparison of output and employment obtainable, for a uniform amount of outlay over a uniform period, from four different spinning technologies - traditional hand-spinning instrument, Dabba-Kataai instrument, ring-spinning machine and open-end spinning machine - shows that, given the prevalent capital and labour resources and corresponding factor costs in India, Dabba-Kataai is most appropriate both in terms of output and employment. In terms of the social and environmental consideration also this technology is most suitable. Application of scientific and technological research can contribute significantly to reducing costs in Khadi industry and should also be directed towards improving the quality of the output.