SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS EXPLORING THE WEAVING INDUSTRY - A CASE STUDY IN BARPETA DISTRICT OF ASSAM
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Date
2023
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Abstract
The weaving industry being women intensive in nature provides a suitable setting to examine how the women owned enterprises contribute to the development of regional economy. Also, in a society where there is patriarchal hegemony, they face various gender biasness and stereotypes and despite of these challenges the women entrepreneurs have shown tremendous resilience and determination by breaking the stereotypes and empowering themselves by making independent decision and having financial independence thus challenging the traditional gender dynamics. This research study investigates the socio-economic profile of women entrepreneurs engaged in the weaving industry in Barpeta district of Assam with the objective to examine the profile of women entrepreneurs in weaving industry in Barpeta District, analyse the contributing factors to income generation of women entrepreneurs from weaving industry, and identify the production, marketing and financial constraints faced by women entrepreneurs in weaving idustry. Primary data pertaining to the year 2022-2023 were collected from 50 women entrepreneurs selected from Bhabanipur block and Chakachaka block of Barpeta district of Assam. The women entrepreneurs were further classified into two groups based on their loom size to give them fair representation. The present study thus the reveals several key findings. Firstly, the study sheds light on the diverse socio-economic backgrounds of these women, with variations in age, education, marital status, source of income, training status, family history in weaving and family size impacting their income as well as. Different types of weaved products were produced by the women entrepreneurs namely Chadar, Mekhela, Set, Bihuwan Gamosa, Uka Gamosa and Anakota Gamosa. The unit prices of the yarns were also different and prices per kg varied based on the types and grades of yarn used. The average total variable cost and total fixed cost incurred by per entrepreneur of the overall sample size in a year was Rs 1,35,717 and Rs. 1,49,624. The average total gross return per entrepreneur was estimated to be Rs. 5,03,108. The benefit cost ratio was found to be 1.80. The marketing profile reveals that three marketing channels were used where 76% of the entrepreneurs used channel III. Among all the channels channel I was found to be the most efficient and channel III being the most effective as volume of transaction was the highest through that channel. The income generation of the women entrepreneurs was found to be contributed by socio-economic characteristics such as education, marital status, age, family size, training, hours of work, number of employees, past history. Age and marital status were
found to be negative and significant in contributing to income generation, whereas training and past history were not significant but contributed positively. Education (0.20**), hours of work (0.09***), number. of employees (0.11**) and family size (0.09***) contributed positively and significantly. Various responses of women entrepreneurs were also taken of the factors that motivated them to generate income, it was found that supporting family financially was the most important motivating factor among the respondents Moreover, the research examines the production, marketing and financial constraints faced by women entrepreneurs in the weaving sector, which revealed that shortage of labour, tough competitions from established retailers and regular and frequent need of working capital were some of the major constraints faced by the women entrepreneurs in the study area. The study provides valuable insights into the socio-economic profile of women entrepreneurs and that the women entrepreneurs of the weaving industry in Barpeta district have made significant accomplishments and progress despite the difficulties in the weaving industry. The study thus suggests approaches to improve the production and marketing of their products to increase their returns and for the overall development of the weaving industry.