United Dreams

(A Case Study on Institutionalising the Janbazaar Shoemaking Cluster) Background: About 200 years ago, a group of landless farm labourers migrated from parts of Bihar to erstwhile Calcuttaii in West Bengal. Belonging to different religious groups, scheduled caste community, they were extremely poor, socially and economically marginalised. They brought with them two precious things their traditional craftsmanship in shoemaking and a common dream to succeed and establish themselves, both individually and as a group. They found shelter in the locally known Janbazaar area in Central Kolkata, where they set up their workplaces and it is here where they continue making excellent shoes, sometimes under persistent marginalization, deprivation and usurious circumstances. About the Cluster: Presently, more than 1500 artisans/shoemakers are based in the cluster engaged in the traditional craft of shoe-making. They are originally from different districts of Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal. Most of them are also seasonal agricultural workers, leaving for their villages to work as farmhands. The cluster produces both pure leather and synthetic leather shoes that are manually made by the artisans using machines for cutting, sewing, and stitching. At an average 3000 to 3500 pairs of shoes are produced every day in this cluster. Main types of shoes are Jackson shoes, Derby shoes, Dr. Sam shoes, Sonata shoes, Moccasin shoes, and Jalsa shoes. They are unbranded and are popular in the market by word of mouth and of the Janbazaar identity. During festival seasons the cluster expands production to more than 4000 pairs every day. Main markets of these shoes are the sub-urban middle class and the rural markets of West Bengal, Bihar, and Jharkhand. Costs of the shoes of the cluster range from INR 135 (USD 3) to INR 260 (USD 5.8). With a profit margin of 10 per cent on cost the turnover of the cluster amounts to INR 80,00,000 (USD 180,000) that is optimistically at 60 per cent production capacity of the cluster.
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Facts and Figures

(Synopsis is based on March 2010 primary data only) Current production = 3000 to 4000 pairs of shoes every day. Total number of units = 128. Total number of artisans = 1091. Number of dependents = 2117. No. of Dependents to No. of Earners Ratio = 1.94. All the artisans are male. 67 per cent artisans are above 30 years of age. 33 per cent artisans are between 15 to 30 years of age. 46 per cent proprietors studied up to 5th std. 51 per cent proprietors have formal education between 5th to 10th std. Only 3 per cent of them are high school graduates. None of the proprietors are graduates or above. Their sons are studying in colleges. Average monthly income per household unit = INR 25,485 (USD 566). Average monthly expenditure per household unit = INR 71,845( USD 1597).

Shoes being packed for the market

Issues:
Interventions in the Janbazaar shoemaking cluster

Design training materials

Training Class in progress

Several factors and bottlenecks have contributed to the stagnation of the cluster. Some of them are: Subsistence levels of earnings The monthly per capita income and expenditure of the cluster are INR 2,990 (USD 66) and INR 2,867 (USD 64) respectively. A savings margin of INR 123 (USD 3) per month per capita does not allow an artisan either to invest in modern technologies or to pursue training. Availability of credit Absence of savings, lack of any tangible assets that could act as collaterals, and no formal work order in lieu of surety are the primary reasons for banks to refuse credit to the cluster. The artisans procure loans from local money lenders at usurious terms 5 to 6 per cent rates of interest per month; in one case an artisan was required to repay INR 100 (USD 2) everyday as interest (against a INR 2000/USD 40 loan). Utilisation of credit for meeting personal expenses during periods of poor demand adds to the existing liquidity problem of the cluster. Raw material procurement Quality leather materials are not affordable for the artisans. Raw material suppliers extend credit to them on very strict terms. Lack of awareness and exposure to modern shoe-making techniques. Levels of education Although not formally trained, the artisan shoe makers in the cluster are master craftsmen in their own right having inherited, imbibed and honed age old skills handed down by their forefathers. Obsolescence in levels of skills, techniques and manufacturing processes. Unorganised and scattered natures of the house hold units of the Janbazaar cluster. Common problems were not addressed by them together.

Projectiii Interventions: Sewing is being done The issues were addressed from two broad perspectives, one was to create and develop the intrinsic value chain of the cluster itself, and the other was to form a sustainable model that would provide a collective solution to the more common problems. Multiple soft interventions were planned and implemented simultaneously and effectively in the Janbazaar sub-cluster. Skill Development Programme A select group of 30 artisans from Janbazaar were given training on the various footwear design concepts, design and use of lasts in footwear manufacturing, quality Shoe making using lasts of finished product, marketing techniques, basic accounting, and bank procedures. A local Anganwadi centre was used as the training centre. Formation of Self Help Groups (SHGs) The first stage of consolidating the cluster into a unit began with the formation of two SHGs, Pada Sova and Charma Sree.

 Exposure visits to international trade fairs, MSMEs and leather associations in Chennai were sponsored to enhance their outlook and experience. Capacity building of members of the SHGs EDII sponsored a Capacity Building Training programme by the prestigious Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BNCCI). Advanced accounting, managerial, administrative, marketing, organisational theories were taught by eminent faculty members from the Indian Institute of Management (Calcutta), Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, Calcutta University and BNCCI. Formation of Industrial Cooperative The interventions have witnessed wilful participation by the artisans and have helped them in developing their confidences. They have organised themselves to form an Industrial Cooperative. Initially 30 artisans, who constitute the core group, have contributed financially towards the formation of the cooperative. A road map has been defined that would induct other units too. The cooperative has started operating as a composite unit, addressing all issues as a whole. Micro finance institutions have been approached to set up a mechanism for availing and delivering credit facilities. Formation of a Common Facility Centre (CFC) The cluster is finding strength in numbers. Together they have initiated a drive to establish a common facility centre unique to the cluster. The CFC would solve another of their collective problem, i.e. technology gap in production. Conclusions: 200 hundred years have gone by starting from the day when the cluster was first formed. Dreams of the first generation artisans are finding fruit here in the heart of Kolkata, initiated by the present generation of craftsmen and catalysed by the interventions of EDII. The journey initiated would continue in the future, driven by the passions, commitments and well intentions of people coming from all walks of life. The cluster would grow, develop, and sustain itself to create an identity, a model of hope, entrepreneurship, and a socioeconomic inspiration for the future generations.

Marketing their products

The case study was prepared by Ritobrato Bhattacharyya, Project Officer / Network Expert, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII). ii Calcutta is now called Kolkata. iii The case study was based on the intervention in the Janbazaar sub-cluster as a part of the overarching project Implementing Business Development Services in the Kolkata Leather Cluster, facilitated by EDII and supported by SIDBI, World Bank, DFID, GTZ, and KfW. A local NGO, Central Kolkata Shiromani Rabidas Seva Samiti, collaborated with EDII in the Janbazaar intervention.