Rural industrialisation: a catalyst in action

The Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) is an apex agency set-up for promoting industrial development in the country. As a step forward towards dispersal of industries in backward and rural areas, the Bank undertook, on a pilot basis, promotion of rural industries under an innovative programme called Block Adoption Programme.
The programme was innovative in the sense that its strategies for planning and implementation had a profes sional touch which was missing in general in the rural development programmes such as the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP). This was achieved by en trusting the programme to a few selected professional consultancy agencies like the Technical Consultancy Organisa tions (TCOs)-the IDBI's subsidiaries in different States and a voluntary organisation called the Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN).
The programme was introduced in 1985-86 in 12 selected industrially backward blocks by funding the above agencies for acquiring a small professional team with the required zeal and drive to promote rural industries. The team was located at the block headquarters and was made easily accessible to rural entrepreneurs by providing the former with some minimum infrastructure. It functioned not only like a catalyst but a conduit for channelising inputs available to the rural entrepreneurs from the existing schemes of the various development agencies and financial institutions with which it kept a close rapport. Moreover, it worked as a facilitator for motivating, selecting, training and setting up rural enterprises with appropriate linkages. Working for about three years, the team has scored some reasonable success in establishing a number of different kinds of enterprises in eight of the twelve blocks. It also has shown that its programme is capable of being replicated.
This small book makes an assessment of the working of the programme for about three years. It has also made a few suggestions for improving the strategy to intensify the programme further. It will be useful to all those who are engaged in various rural development projects.