EHC P-04

TRIBAL INTEGRATION INTO LEATHER MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS (TRIMS): A

CONCEPTUAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC BUSINESS MODEL FOR FASTER INCLUSION
OF TRIBES INTO THE MAINSTREAM SOCIETY

P. Anantha Naryanan*,K. Karthikeyan, Dr. K. Phebe Aaron, Dr. A. Tamil Selvi, Dr. K.
Krishnaraj

Shoe & Product Design Centre (SPDC), Centre for Human &Organisational Resources Development
(CHORD), CSIR- Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai – 600020, India
*Email:leatherananth@gmail.com

The Indian leather industry occupies a prominent place in the Indian economy in view of its massive
potential for employment, growth and exports. The leather sector has been set a target of USD 27
billion to be achieved by 2020, which includes export target of USD 15 billion from the present
turnover of USD 6.5 billion and domestic market turnover of USD 12 billion from the present
turnover of USD 6 billion. The Indian leather industry comprises of major segments like footwear,
finished leather, leather goods, leather garments, leather gloves, footwear components and harness
and saddlery. All these segments have high growth potential. The tribes of India are among the
poorest and most marginalized sections of Indian society, and most of them are living below the
poverty line, illiterate and suffer from extremely poor physical health. To illustrate the poverty
among scheduled tribes the people below poverty line were 47.1% in urban and 28.8% in rural for
the year 2009-10. The scenario has been similar in the sphere of education and health. The literacy of
tribes in 2011 was 58.96% as compared to 72.99% of the total population. Moreover as per the
National Family Health Survey, (2005-06), the Infant Mortality rate was 62.1 per 1000 live births
among tribes and Under-five mortality was as high as 95.7 per 1000 live births. The development of
the tribal population in India has been a major concern of the government, voluntary agencies,
NGOs, social reformers, social scientists, etc. The unemployment rate among urban scheduled tribe
men and women were 3.4% and 4.8% in 2011-12 respectively, while in rural areas, unemployment
rate for scheduled tribe men and women were 1.3% and 1.1% for the same period. Unemployment
often leads to immense poverty. TRIMS (Tribal Integration into Leather Manufacturing Systems) is a
conceptual socio-economic business model which aims to elevate the tribes from the edges of the
society, adorn them in the mainstream and create a state of equality. The feasibility of training the
scheduled tribes in leather products manufacturing and integrating them into the leather product
manufacturing system has been analyzed.
Keywords: Indian leather industry, tribes, poverty, training, integration, manufacturing system

1. Leather industry in India – the vanguard of inclusive development

The Indian leather industry is poised to reach an optimistic target of 27 billion USD turnover from the
current level of 12 billion USD by 2020 [1]. Leather industry is among the top ten foreign exchange
earners for the country. The leather industry is bestowed with an affluence of raw materials as India

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is endowed with 21% of world cattle and buffalo and 11% of world goat and sheep population
[2].The leather industry has undergone a dramatic transformation from being a mere exporter of raw
materials in the nineteen sixties to being a producer of value added finished products in the nineteen
nineties [3].

The leather industry in India is geographically well diversified, though Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and
West Bengal account for bulk of the output. The major production centres for leather and leather
products are located at Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Ambur, Ranipet, Vaniyambadi, Trichi, Dindigul and
Erode), West Bengal (Calcutta), Uttar Pradesh (Kanpur, Agra, Noida and Saharanpur), Maharashtra
(Mumbai), Punjab (Jalandhar), Karnataka (Bangalore), Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad), Haryana
(Ambala, Gurgaon, Panchkula, Karnal and Faridabad), Delhi, Madhya Pradesh (Dewas) and Kerala
(Calicut and Cochin).The sector is dominated by micro and small units with bigger units accounting
for just around 5 per cent of the total manufacturing units. The distribution of the units in this sector
in terms of the broad classification of MSME and others is indicated below:

Table 1: Structure of Indian Leather Industry

Large Medium Small Units Micro Merchant Total

Units Units Units Units
Finished 30 49 309 68 151 607
leather
Leather 38 46 228 49 81 442
Footwear
Non Leather 4 2 34 13 17 70
Footwear
Footwear 29 32 182 28 22 293
Component
Leather 14 13 242 259 210 738
Goods
Leather 8 8 132 49 72 269
Garments
Leather 4 3 38 36 24 105
Gloves
Harness and 3 9 74 69 26 181
Saddlery
Total 130 162 1239 571 603 2705
Source: Report of Working Group on Leather & Leather Products Twelfth Five Year Plan Period (2012‐
17)

The leather industry is spread in different segments, namely, tanning and finishing, footwear and
footwear components, leather garments, leather goods including saddlery and harness, etc.

Table 2: The estimated production capacity in different segments

Product Capacity
Leather hides 65 million pieces

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 Skins 170 million pieces
Footwear & footwear components 909 million pairs
Leather shoe uppers 100 million pairs
Non-leather footwear 1056 million pairs
Leather garments 16 million pieces
Leather goods 63 million pieces
Industrial gloves 52 million pairs
Saddlery & Harness 12.5 million pieces

The leather industry is an employment intensive sector, providing job to more than 2.5 million
people, mostly from the weaker sections of the society. Women employment is predominant in
leather products sector with about 30% share. The estimated workforce constitutes 1.1 million in
finished leather, 1.1 million in footwear and components and 0.3 million in leather goods and
garments. The expected employment by 2022 is 7.1 million, needing an additional 4.6 million
workforce across various segments [4].

2. The tribes of India

The tribal communities in India are enormously diverse and heterogeneous. The census of 2011
enumerates the total population of Scheduled Tribes at 10.42 crore, constituting 8.6 per cent of the
population of the country. There are wide ranging diversities among them in respect of languages
spoken, size of population and mode of livelihood. The number of communities that find their place
in the list of the Schedule of the Indian constitution is reflective of this diversity. As per the Census of
India 2011, the number of individual groups notified as Scheduled Tribes is 705.

Scheduled Tribes communities live in about 15% of the country’s area, in various ecological and geo-
climatic conditions ranging from plains and forests to hills. A large proportion of Scheduled Tribes are
collectors of forest produce, hunter-gatherers, shifting cultivators, pastoralists and nomadic herders,
and artisans. Traditional occupations of tribal groups may range from honey-collection to hunting
small animals to engaging in metal-work and rope-making. A majority of tribal groups work in the
primary sector, and are heavily dependent on agriculture either as cultivators or as agricultural
labourers. At the same time, a number of Scheduled Tribes no longer follow their traditional
occupations and work as labourers on plantations or in mines and factories (in many cases, since the
nineteenth-century). Displacement and enforced migration has also led to an increasing number of
Scheduled Tribes working as contract labourers in the construction industry and as domestic workers
in major cities. Over 80% of Scheduled Tribes work in the primary sector against 53% of the general
population, primarily as cultivators.

Scheduled Tribes comprise 11.3 per cent of the Indian rural population and 2.8 per cent of the Indian
urban population. The total male ST population according to the 2011 census is 5,24,09,823 of which
4,71,26,341 are residing in rural areas and 52,83,482 are in urban areas. The total female ST
population is 5,18,71,211 with 4,66,92,821 in rural areas and 51,78,390 in urban areas. The Central-
East Indian region (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and
West Bengal) has the largest proportion of STs, about 52.51 per cent. The Western region
(Rajasthan, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Maharashtra and Goa) has 27.64 per

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cent of STs. The Northeastern region (Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram,
Tripura, Meghalaya and Assam) has 12.41 per cent of STs. The Southern region (Karnataka, Kerala
and Tamil Nadu) has 5.31 per cent of STs. The Himalayan Region (Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh) comprises 2.03 per cent of STs and 0.11 per cent of STs live
in the island region of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep [5,6].

Figure 1: State-wise distribution of STs (as per the 2011 census)

3. Tribal Integration into Leather Manufacturing System

Tribal Integration into Leather Manufacturing System is a conceptual socio-economic business model
for the faster inclusion of tribes into the mainstream society. It involves carrying out a
comprehensive physical survey in the tribal region and identifying development opportunities for
leather and allied sector. The tribal skills and artisanship like traditional weaving, block printing
techniques, tribal embroidery, bead &jewellery making, rope making, painting etc possessed by the
tribes need to be studied. Based on their native skills a customized training programme in leather
product making is planned to be conducted by establishing training centres. The tribes will be trained
in the training centres without losing their tribal uniqueness or identity. The tribes are then
encouraged to start their own company or placed into the exisitng leather product manufacturing
industries. The objective of this model is to conduct skill development programmes in leather
product manufacture for the scheduled tribes and integrate the scheduled tribes into the leather
product manufacturing system. The key achievements envisaged are development of skilled
manpower for manufacture of leather products, creation of self employment for tribal people and
enhancement of socio-economic status of the tribal people in the identified locations.

SWOT Analysis of Tribal Integration into Manufacturing System (TRIMS) model:

STRENGTHS

- Pan India distribution of leather industries

- Pan India distribution of tribes
- Tribal skills and artisanship – skills in traditional weaving, block printing techniques, tribal
embroidery, bead & jewellery making, rope making , painting etc.

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 - Traditional knowledge of tribes in natural dyes and pigments which they use in their
paintings and ethnic wears, ethnic crafts etc
- Possession of creative designs and applications by tribes that are known for their vitality,
color and intricacy

WEAKNESSES

- Lack of tribal specific training centre in leather product manufacturing

- Infrastructure facilities like road, communication etc are poor in certain tribal areas
- Lack of teaching training learning materials in tribal language

OPPORTUNITIES

- Growing domestic market for footwear, fashion accessories like hand bags, wallets, purses
etc.
- High growth potential and labor requirement of the leather sector
- Marketing of tribal products throughe-portals and government cooperative stores with the
support of organizations like Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India
Limited (TRIFED)

THREATS

- Cultural resistance
- Growing shift towards automation

4. Conclusion

Tribal Integration into leather Manufacturing System (TRIMS) is a conceptual socio-economic model
for the faster inclusion of tribes into the mainstream society. The model if adopted has the potential
to eliminate unemployment, poverty and other socio-economic problems related to the tribes in
India. As the tribes will be included in the leather product manufacturing sector, their income
earning capacity will be increased. Tribes will be included in the holistic development of our country.
Also it enhances the availability of trained workforce for the leather sector which is labour intensive.

5. Suggestions and recommendations

The government can provide financial support for establishing training centres and conducting
specialized skill development programmes for tribes in leather product manufacturing.The
government can also provide scholarships / stipends to the tribes undergoing the training
programme in leather product manufacturing. Leather machineries at subsidized rates can be
provided by the government for setting up of manufacturing units by tribes after they successfully
complete their training programme in leather product manufacturing, to encourage
entrepreneurship among them.

6. References

1. http://www.clri.org/CLRIMagazine/Oct2016/Leather_Post_Octr.pdf
2. http://leatherindia.org/industry-at-a-glance/

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3. Report of Working Group on Leather & Leather Products Twelfth Five Year Plan Period
(2012‐17)
http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/wrkgrp12/wg_leath0203.pdf
4. http://www.indialeatherssc.org/
5. Report of the high level committee on socio-economic, health and educational status of
tribal communities of India, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, May 2014
6. Annual Report 2015-2016, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India
7. R. Shankar, S. Manimaran, “Socio-economic conditions of pachamalai tribes”, Cognitive
Discourses International Multidisicplinary Journal ISSN 2321-1075 Volume 1, Issue 1, July
2013
8. A. Jayakumar, P. Palaniyammal, “Socio-economic status of scheduled tribes in kalrayan hills”,
International journal of research”, Vol.4, Issue 3, March 2016
9. Indian Economy Key Concepts by Ramesh Singh, third edition, 2015, Pg 49-63, Poverty and
Unemployment
10. Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh, Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Limited, 2012
11. The Indian Economy by SanjivVerma, 2013
12. Indian Polity by Lakshmikanth, fourth edition, McGraw Hill Education Private Limited, 2014
13. Pabiben.com

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