T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y August 22, 1959

Market Research and Sociology Savitri Shahani

THE prof i t ab i l i ty of m a r k e t i n g consumer goods depends on

the purchasing power of the popu­la t ion , bu t i t also depends on the at t i tudes a n d behaviour of con­sumers. In a developed economy where a cer ta in level of purchasing power is t aken for granted, i t is also t aken fo r g ran ted tha t efforts t o increase sales w i l l involve a con­siderable knowledge of these a t t i ­tudes and behaviour. Such know­ledge is even more impor t an t in a developing economy w i t h a rela­t ive ly unexplored marke t , since as purchasing power increases, new needs emerge. W h a t these new needs are or w i l l be i n the future depends on exis t ing habits and the trends of change they show.

The sma l l producer usual ly comes to k n o w his consumers ra ther we l l because the range of his custom is l i m i t e d and there are few or no middlemen interposed between h i m and his clientele. As a result lie can improve or change his product ac­cord ing to consumer demand and thus ensure his profits. This close contact is, however, impossible fo r modern large-scale indus t ry . I t s customers are spread out over a wide area, a n d the larger firms have an a lmost wor ld-wide marke t . This means t ha t goods can reach their dest inat ion only t h r o u g h a complex sel l ing organisat ion. The size of the industry , the wide spread of i ts m a r k e t and the interposi t ion of a sell ing organisa t ion put a great distance between the producer and the consumer. Knowledge of the consumer's habits, his l ikes and dis­likes, his reasons for buy ing or not buying, are v i t a l , a n d i t was to ob ta in th is i n f o r m a t i o n under the changed condit ions of large-scale i n ­dus t r ia l i sa t ion t h a t m a r k e t research was developed in Amer ica .

Systematic Research M a r k e t research, however, was not

accepted universal ly , a n d many mar ­k e t i n g executives s t i l l r e l y on their o w n i n f o r m a l contacts w i t h con­sumers or w i t h retailers, a n d feel t ha t such contacts t e l l t h e m a l l they need to k n o w to guide the i r policies. B u t in spite of the g rea t common sense value of such i n f o r m a t i o n , the customer's hab i t s a n d at t i tudes are of such v i t a l impor tance to the suc­cess o f marke t ing a product t h a t i t

is w o r t h w h i l e under t ak ing the cost­ly procedure of c a r r y i n g out syste­mat ic research, The i n f o r m a l l y ar­r ived at generalisation, based on l i m i t e d knowledge, m a y not be va l id . I t i s quite l i k e l y t h a t the producer contacts on ly the easily accessible customer, accessible b o t h physical ly and socially, so tha t whole classes of customers are unknown to h i m .

Systematic research requires spe­c ia l ly t ra ined personnel bo th a t the level of actual invest igat ion and for the analysis of results: a psycholo­gist to f rame the relevant questions to t r a i n investigators in in terview­ing techniques, and to interpret and advise on the psychological aspects of the research; an economist to relate consumer habits and at t i tudes to general marke t conditions and thence to company policy; a sociolo­gist to ident i fy the social group's— as opposed to indiv iduals—which provide the customers; and a statis­t ic ian to collate the research results. A l l the social sciences therefore play a pa r t in marke t research, and at least some of the problems of the social sciences are also the problems of m a r k e t research.

Th i s ar t icle a t tempts to show tha t in the context of m a r k e t research needs in Ind ia , sociology, of a l l the social sciences, should play a rela­t ive ly more impor t an t pa r t t h a n i t does in other countries.

Largely Unexplored U n l i k e the Un i t ed States where

m a r k e t research is bo th widespread and h igh ly developed, i t has only recently been s tar ted in Ind ia . The i n i t i a l impulse was given by some large foreign f i rms, a n d foreign adver t i s ing agencies were entrusted w i t h the task of conducting surveys. N o w some of these firms have their own research departments and I n d i a n industries have also become interest­ed. In one case, at least, a number of firms have come together to set up a research association to meet the i r common needs. The impor­tance of m a r k e t research is be ing recognised and pharmaceut ical goods, handicraf ts a n d handloom products, among others, are the th ings a round w h i c h invest igat ions are being made.

The I n d i a n m a r k e t i s s t i l l la rgely unexplored though i t holds out vast potential i t ies at the present t ime

because of bo th planned official efforts and pr iva te expansion. B o t h the number of consumers and their ind iv idua l purchasing power w i l l increase thus e levat ing the demand for exis t ing products and creat ing a marke t fo r new ones. Establ ish­ed products gather a round them a cer ta in amount of experience, but when a new product is launched, the r i sk of fa i lure is a lways there. This r i sk can be great ly minimised if a new product is tested on l i ke ly customers before being manufactur­ed on a large-scale or if consumer att i tudes to such a product are first ascertained. Costly mistakes could be avoided. Since m a n y new buy­ers come f r o m the peasant class or f r o m smal l isolated provinc ia l towns, i t is difficult for an u rban manufacturer to predict accurately w h a t i t is they w i l l buy. The basic necessities of the present day are comparat ively few, and th ings t h a t are considered basic in cer ta in deve­loped economies m a y never become acceptable here. The goods t h a t the increasingly prosperous peasant or petty t rader incorporates i n to his l ife as basic necessities w i l l depend on his long-established habi ts and his own peculiar needs. Only care­fu l research can t e l l wh ich of these habits and needs are amenable to profitable exploi ta t ion.

Income Classification Inadequate Sociological research can provide

much of these v i t a l data. In the Uni ted States and in other Western countries probably any qualified so­cia l scientist could handle m a r k e t research firstly because, in those countries, social groups are largely income-based, and therefore can be defined by purely s ta t i s t ica l me­thods; income is in any case the factor of most interest to a business firm. Secondly, the average person is much more sociology and psycho­logy conscious. In Ind ia , social groups are not so closely related to income. The habits, needs a n d a t t i -tudes of individuals do not depend as much on their class, i e, on their income-level and related characte­rist ics l ike education a n d occupation. They depend ra ther on t r a d i t i o n a l upbr ing ing w h i c h is s t rongly con­di t ioned by language, caste and f a m i l y . . The facile classification of Western society in to upper-middle-

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lower, or even its more rennea ver­sion, upper-upper, lower-upper, up­per-middle, lower-middle , upper, lower, lower- lower, does not w o r k in I n d i a . I t i s inadequate and com­pletely Blurs over the pa r t i cu la r so­c ia l s t r a t a in to wh ich I n d i a n society is divided.

The social h ie ra rchy in I n d i a does broadly reveal a h ie ra rchy of weal th , bu t on ly broadly. Thus the upper castes in general are weal­th ier t h a n the lower castes, but cer­t a i n upper castes who are accorded a h i g h place in r i t u a l status may have less w e a l t h t h a n other castes who are weal th ier but do not have as h i g h a r i t u a l status. I t takes the sk i l l s of a sociologist or a social anthropologis t to define and classify these social groups. An economist cannot do it easily, since social d i f fe ren t ia t ion is no t p r i m a r i l y eco­nomic as it w o u l d be in a class so­ciety, A br ie f outl ine of the k i n d of social groups the researcher m a y expect to encounter in his studies w i l l show how these wou ld be rele­v a n t to industr ies of different kinds .

Social Demarcations

The f irs t social demarcat ions at the a l l - I n d i a or na t iona l level is l inguis t ic . E n o u g h is a lready k n o w n for us to say t h a t each l inguis t ic region is a social ly homogenous area a n d is d is t inc t f r o m other re­gions. T w o neighbour ing l inguis t ic regions m a y have border areas w h i c h seem as a whole to have over lapping character is t ics . H o w ­ever, i f i nd iv idua l villages were con­sidered it is probable t h a t a very clear boundary l ine could be d r a w n . W i t h i n each region there are again sub-regions w h i c h m a y share an overa l l homogenei ty w i t h the region or w h i c h have a separate ethnic iden t i ty . The l a t t e r type of sub-region of ten has a long h i s to ry of association w i t h the region of w h i c h i t is a par t , ye t i t has re ta ined i ts iden t i ty .

An example of th is i s the H a r y a n a d is t r ic t s o f Punjab, and the h i l l areas of no r the rn Punjab. H a r y a n a speaks a dialect of Western H i n d i , has a d is t inc t ive system of castes, ideas and values, i t s o w n social stereo­types, a n d i t s o w n diet and c lo th ing . I t i s no t homogenous w i t h cen t ra l Punjab a n d the t rue Pun jab i of cen­t r a l or west Punjab is a lways a s t r an ­ger i n H a r y a n a society. The h i l l areas in the n o r t h e r n pa r t o f the province are also no t 'Punjab i ' t hough they appear to be more s i m i l a r to Pun-

jabis than the Haryanas in mat te rs of dress and dialect. A l t h o u g h H a r ­yana i s not social ly in tegra ted w i t h Punjab, in the sense of h a v i n g a common social consciousness, in recent t imes, af ter the inf lux of Punjabis f r o m West Punjab, v i l l a ­gers and townspeople in H a r y a n a are tending to imi ta te the Punjabi in clothes, food and even in beha­viour, and the Punjabi stereotype is assuming a k i n d of dominance.

There are other less s t r i k i n g examples of regions w i t h i n regions where the overa l l homogeneity is so great tha t the sub-regional differ­ences may escape the casual obser­ver. Such regions wou ld be Maha­rasht ra , Gujera t and Tami lnad , I f one looks closely at Maharash t r a one sees tha t a l though M a r a t h i is spoken t h r o u g h the length and bread th of Maharash t ra , there are differences in dialect among the three sub-regions of K o n k a n , Desh and M a r a t h w a d a . These sub-regions are geographical ly separated and each one has developed a long its o w n lines. Each has its own social pa t te rn and though the castes of one have parallels among the castes of the others, they are nevertheless d is t inct . Thus the Chi tpavan B r a h ­m i n is found only in the K o n k a n and the Deshastha B r a h m i n in the Desh. Since they have come to­gether in the cities, they have begun to i n t e r - m a r r y wi thou t any diff icul ty . We can therefore say tha t each sub-region has i ts own sub-caste pa t te rn which fits in a general w a y in to a pa t te rn for the whole region.

Caste and Family Just as an analysis at the na t iona l

level reveals l inguis t ic groups, an analysis of l inguis t ic groups breaks down in to castes. B o t h l inguis t ic and caste groups are m u t u a l l y ex­clusive. Every ind iv idua l is a mem­ber of one caste and tha t caste only. There can be no over lapping mem­bership. Social groups are there­fore easily defined by a s t ra igh t enumerat ion of the number of mem­bers in each caste. W h a t is difficult to assess, however, is the relat ive posi t ion of castes in the social h ierar­chy. To quote Professor M N Sr i -nivas, "Movement has a lways been possible and especially so in the middle regions of the hierarchy. A low caste was able, in a generat ion or two , to rise to a higher posi t ion in the h ierarchy by adopt ing vege­t a r i a n i s m and teetotal ism, and by Sanskr i t i a ing i ts r i t u a l and pan-

theon." ( 'Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India ' Oxford , 1952.)

W i t h i n each caste again there are famil ies and kingroups . The type of f a m i l y and the mar r i age re­gulat ions observed w i l l determine such impor t an t th ings as the posit ion of women in the f ami ly , the r igh t s and duties of f a m i l y member of different ages, the importance of the chi ld in the f ami ly , and so on. I t i s at these three levels of language, caste and f a m i l y tha t we can understand the I n d i a n populat ion which provides the businessman's actual and potent ia l customers. The same three social phenomena are also the major concern of the I n d i a n sociologist and social anthropologis t .

Class Consciousness

C u t t i n g across lines of language. caste and f a m i l y a l l over the coun­t r y we f ind new kinds of group con­sciousness emerging, center ing a round education, occupation and income. Th i s we can cal l class con­sciousness, The t r a d i t i o n a l caste consciousness w h i c h derives i ts sanc­tions f r o m r i t u a l a n d the importance of b i r t h is all-pervasive, but now often coexists w i t h class conscious­ness. The factors tha t make for class differences have long: existed, bu t consciousness of them as status-g i v i n g factors in themselves is very modern. Class consciousness is be­coming in terwoven w i t h caste con­sciousness, and each caste, whi le r emain ing an endogamous and self-delineated group, shows an i n f o r m a l in t e rna l s t ra t i f i ca t ion of a class type.

This s t ra t i f i ca t ion m a y result in the caste b reak ing up in to endoga­mous sub-castes. In u rban areas there is a tendency for such class s t ra ta w i t h i n castes to associate w i t h their counterparts in other castes. The tendency is much more m a r k e d where the other castes belong to a different l inguis­t ic group. Such association w i t h other communit ies extends to social intercourse but very ra re ly does i t lead to in termarr iages , so t h a t caste group iden t i t y remains i n tac t . I n sum, there is an increasing seculari­sat ion of l i fe and greater importance is Veing given to secular factors in de te rmin ing status t h a n to r i t u a l factors. However, a l though the o ld externa l m a r k s of caste are disap­pear ing a n d the status of castes is no longer unassailable, caste is s t i l l

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the effective social g roup in to wh ich an ind iv idua l is born .

Linguistic Habits W i t h th is br ie f v iew o f I nd i an

society in m ind , i t is possible to i l lus t ra te how the sale of consumer goods m a y depend on social group­ings. The wan ts o f an ind iv idua l and the way in wh ich he w i l l sa t is fy t hem are condi t ioned by his social background, but d i f ferent wan ts w i l l be condi t ioned by the di f ferent levels of society in wh i ch he part ic ipates. F o r example, some wan ts w i l l de­pend on his l inguis t ic a f f i l ia t ion. Others w i l l depend on his caste. Take the case of I n d i a n cheese (paneer) . I t i s common ly eaten among Punjab is , regardless of whe­ther they are B rahm ins or K h a t r i s or chamars. I t is therefore a ' l i n ­guis t ic ' hab i t .

I t s existence cannot be explained as being due to the ava i l ab i l i t y of m i l k in the P u n j a b as m i l k is equal ly avai lab le in West U P. Bu t paneer was not made or eaten in west U P. I t i s on ly recent ly t h a t the m a n u ­fac tu re of paneer has been s tar ted in A l i g a r h and there is no evidence on whether i t is eaten by local peo­ple. Fo r a person who wishes to make paneer, i t is enough f o r h i m to k n o w t h a t there are Pun jab is in his area f o r h i m to be assured of a cer ta in number o f customers. T h a t is how the knowledge of social groups works out in pract ice. The nine y a r d saree is also a l inguist ic hab i t . I t i s w o r n everywhere in Maha rash t ra . Ac tua l l y , the nine y a r d saree is wo rn in T a m i l n a d and A n d h r a as wel l , bu t the M a h a r a -sh t r ian saree is d is t inct ive bo th in the ma te r i a l and the sty le of wear­ing .

Caste-Conditioned Wants

Cer ta in wants m a y be caste con­di t ioned. The most impo r t an t o f these centre around food. The mos t s igni f icant difference between castes is vegetar ian /non-vegetar ian one. B r a h m i n castes do not eat meat w i t h the notable exception of Saraswat and K a s h m i r i B rahmins . The in ter ­mediate and lower castes do eat meat. Meat -ea t ing therefore is a caste-determined hab i t . When a change comes about in the values of a caste, there may also be a change in i ts hab i ts . Thus, as the B r a h m i n s become westernised, t he i r resistance to ea t ing non-vegetar ian food d i m i ­nishes, a n d they s ta r t ea t ing i t f i rst a t res tauran ts or f r iends ' homes and la ter i n the i r o w n . H a v i n g i t cooked

in the home is the f inal step and shows t h a t the n o r m a l l y conservat ive womenfo lk have been w o n over.

Th is happens however at a ra ther h igh level of westernisat ion, and among Intermediate and lower castes we f ind tha t they in fac t give up meat -eat ing in a b id to raise the i r collective status. Th is is fe l t to be an advance in the process of t r y i n g to make themselves more l ike B r a h ­mins. As the processes of social change speed up at the lower levels of society, i t is possible t ha t social mob i l i t y w i l l be expressed by west­ern isat ion ra the r t h a n Sanskr i t i sa-t ion. F o r the marke te r o f an ima l foods or tonics, a knowledge of these processes and t rends becomes abso­lute ly necessary.

Diet and Dress

The staple diet of a region is b road ly the same fo r a l l castes but closer inqu i ry o f ten shows interest­i ng differences. In Saurasht ra , the staple diet is r ice, da l , r o t l i (wheat ) , r o t l a (m i l l e t ) , vegetables and curds, but the B a n i a emphasis is on rice whi le the ru ra l Kanb i emphasizes ro t la . There is usual ly a well-defined h ierarchy of i tems wh i ch fo l lows the social h ie rarchy , Kh i chd i made of rice and sp l i t mung-da l is a favour ­ite upper-caste dish. The low-caste m a n also makes kh i chd i , bu t as he cannot a f fo rd rice he makes i t of broken mi l le t .

Re tu rn ing to the ' l inguis t ic ' hab i t of the nine y a r d co t ton saree of Maharash t r ians , we f ind t h a t i t has i ts caste and i ts class undertones. T rad i t i ona l l y , cer ta in var iet ies of the saree are w o r n by cer ta in castes. A K u n b i w o m a n w i l l refuse to wear the coarse large-checked sarees nor­m a l l y w o r n by the poorer castes, because, accord ing to her, on ly a Kongad in ' wears a saree of t h a t

k i nd . She m i g h t be w i l l i n g to wear a Shahpur i Saree bu t cannot nor­m a l l y a f f o rd i t and w i l l be shy about look ing l ike a B r a h m i n . F o r the weaver of t r ad i t i ona l designs th is poses special problems. The m o d e m manu fac tu re r however, who makes whi te cot ton pr in ted sarees may f ind a m a r k e t a l l over Maha ra ­sh t ra , since women w i l l select f r o m th is s tandard ised type accord ing to the l im i t s of the i r purse, regardless of the i r caste.

An Illustration

A specific instance of the k i n d o f m i s take t h a t can be made when a m a r k e t ana l ys t does n o t have a

sociological background w i l l i l lus­t ra te the prob lem. An inqu i ry was conducted in a large met ropo l i tan c i t y in to the bread-and-but ter hab i t in connect ion w i t h the proposed mar ­ke t i ng of a new "spread'. A w o r k i n g hypothesis, based on ear l ier research, was fo rmu la ted t h a t th is hab i t var ied d i rec t ly w i t h the degree of western isat ion, Pars is and Ang lo -Ind ians had a l ready been covered, and i t was now fe l t t h a t the more conservat ive H indus should be i n ­vest igated as they were a much bigger potent ia l m a r k e t i f they could be persuaded to use the spread. The f i rs t requi rement was, of course, t h a t they must be regu lar or f requent users of bread.

P re l im ina ry enquiries showed tha t the Sindhis were a p romis ing group, a n d research was accord ing ly con­ducted a m o n g them. The results presented to the manu fac tu re r show­ed s imp ly the propor t ion of Sindhis who used but ter on bread. Since th is was smal l , i t d id no t bode we l l f o r the popu lar i ty of a spread. More carefu l analys is of the socio­logical fac tors under l y ing the d is t r i ­but ion showed a pa t te rn wh ich gave rise to a d i f ferent m a r k e t predict ion missed by the un t ra ined observer.

There was a wel l -establ ished hab i t o f eat ing bread and bu t te r f o r break­fas t among the upper castes and among weal th ier fami l ies , th is was accompanied by eggs o r j a m . A m o n g the lower castes also bread was eaten, but not w i t h bu t te r or any other spread. I t was s imply dipped in tea. Bread was not commonly eaten a few decades ago and break­fast i tems were t r ad i t i ona l , made f r o m a t t a o r ma ida . Such th ings disappeared f r o m the tables of the h igh l y westernised, t hough they are s t i l l eaten occasional ly. The dis­placement o f the t r ad i t i ona l break­fas t is now widespread and

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even poorer Sindhis who might be expected to be the las t to westernise are us ing bread. To the manufac­t u r e r th i s mean t t h a t the Sindhi offered a h i g h po ten t ia l cus tom fo r the spread, subject on ly to his abi­l i t y to pay.

Problem of Grouping The p r i m a r y task of the sociologist

engaged In do ing m a r k e t research is to decide how he is go ing to group his subjects. He can group them accord ing to income since the pur­chasing power of the consumer is of p r ime concern to the producer, but we have seen a l ready t h a t habi ts and needs are no t d ic ta ted by a per­son's income as m u c h as they are by h is caste or his language or his f a m i l y . The B r a h m i n bases his c la ims to p r imacy upon his b i r t h and his l ea rn ing and not upon wea l th , and wherever the B r a h m i n s dominated, w h i c h was in most par ts of the count ry outside of the Mus l im-domina ted provinces of the N o r t h , B r a h m i n i c a l values also pre­va i led and occupations tha t required l ea rn ing ra the r t han either money or manua l labour were considered the best. Some firms, t a k i n g in to account th i s preponderance of B r a h ­m i n i c a l values, have rejected the s t r a i g h t economic classification in to upper, middle a n d lower, a n d have ins tead adopted a classification in to professional, t r a d i n g and w o r k i n g classes. A l t h o u g h th i s classification does fit in a very general way, i t is too b road to be useful. The occupa­t i o n a l categorisat ion makes no difference between the c lerk and the advocate or the pet ty t rader and the modern businessman. I t takes no account of the t r a d i t i o n a l and self-conscious groupings of caste.

B r a h m i n s general ly come under the category 'professional ' since they g o i n f o r salar ied jobs, B u t w h a t o f the B r a h m i n w h o has switched over to business? Since his closest aff i l ia t ions are w i t h his o w n la rge ly professional caste, is he not in a sense mispaced if classified as a t rader? In recent t imes in the cities there have been considerable shif ts in types o f occupat ion a n d t rader castes are go ing in fo r jobs whi te professional castes are g o i n g in to business. No account is t aken of these factors in the simple three-class ca tegor isa t ion w h i c h makes de­ceptive sense out of the enormous diversi t ies in the count ry , somewhat in the w a y t h a t the system of the f o u r va rnas p rov ided a scheme into

w h i c h the innumerable castes could be f i t ted .

Why Sociology?

The m a r k e t researcher who has to w o r k qu ick ly and produce the results demanded by management m a y say t h a t the above objections are only academic. I t i s t rue tha t they are the k i n d of objections cha­racter is t ic of an academic sociologist but th is does not make them inva l id . Wha tever the usefulness of simple classifications in the ea r ly stages of research, they m a y severely l i m i t fu r the r knowledge about the con­sumer. The on ly w a y to fu r the r knowledge is to ut i l ise the ser­vices of a qualified sociologist and to give h i m enough free­dom in terms of t ime and money to experiment w i t h ideas about the sociological base for mar­ket research. He w i l l have to keep in close touch w i t h academic socio­logy so tha t he can renew his in­sights, and he should be a l lowed to do long- te rm research w h i c h does not seem to have immedia te useful ness to business policy, since just such research may be w h a t proves indispensable in the l ong run . Re­search depar tments can wai t fo r the academicians to do the long- te rm research, but in th is s lowly develop­i n g f ield they may have to wai t a long t ime . Besides, academic re­search does not usual ly focus on the problems tha t are of greatest con­cern to the businessman.

There is fur ther reason for em­p loy ing a sociologist in a business f i rm tha t has no th ing to do w i t h his specific func t ion as a research analyst . Th i s arises f r o m the spe­cial condit ions of indus t r ia l i sa t ion in I n d i a . Modern industries in the coun t ry bo r row heavi ly f r o m the West in technical knowhow. They are also tempted to adopt ideas about adver t i s ing and m a r k e t research. In the la t t e r field, such heavy b o r r o w i n g can be f a t a l as there is no appreciat ion of the I n d i a n si tua­t i on . Managers are so h i g h l y west­ernised t h a t more of ten t han not they are b l i n d to I n d i a n condit ions. Th i s is reinforced by the emot iona l resistances developed by ind iv idua ls whose westernisat ion has been quite conscious, not merely an adjust­ment to the actual condi t ions in w h i c h they are l i v i n g . A good so­ciologist could help to overcome these in te l lec tua l a n d emot iona l blocks by prepar ing w r i t t e n m a t e r i a l or conduct ing br ie f courses in socio­

logy w i t h a heavy bias towards I n d i a n conditions. T h i s j o b of edu­cat ion seems to be the only correc­t ive to the s t rong ly western men ta l set of the present generat ion of business managers wh ich can disas-terously i n h i b i t the i r unders tanding of the i r marke ts .

Pilot Projects for Industries: Study Team Set Up

A N I N E - M A N Study Team has been set. up to study the w o r k ­

ing , achievements a n d drawbacks of the 26 pilot, projects for indus­tries w h i c h were set up about three years ago by the M i n i s t r y of Com­m u n i t y Development and Coopera­t ion i n conjunct ion w i t h the M i n i s t r y of Commerce and I n d u s t r y in diff­erent parts of the count ry . The T e a m w i l l assess and recommend experiences suitable for appl icat ion or mu l t i p l i c a t i on in the development of v i l lage and smal l scale industries in the Blocks. Shr i S D Mishra , P a r l i a m e n t a r y Secretary to the Min i s te r for C o m m u n i t y Develop­ment and Cooperat ion w i l l be the leader of the t eam w h i c h w i l l be. made up of representatives of the M i n i s t r y o f C o m m u n i t y Develop­ment , M i n i s t r y of Commerce and Indus t ry , K h a d i and Vi l l age Indus-tries Commission, the A l l I n d i a Hand ic ra f t s Boa rd and two State Directors of Industr ies .

The Study Team has divided i t ­self in to three groups wh ich w i l l v is i t selected projects in different parts o f the count ry du r ing Augus t and September and analyse the causes of bott lenecks and of any failures, and recommend measures to accelerate the development of vi l lage a n d smal l scale industries in the Blocks , The terms of reference of the Team include considerat ion of the methodology of i ndus t r i a l po tent ia l survey for a B l o c k ; the development o f m a r k e t i n g ; t r a i n i n g required for r u r a l a r t i sans ; coordi­na t ion between the var ious depart­ments and non-official bodies; and the development of suitable agen­cies, l ike indus t r i a l cooperative so­cieties, in the development of v i l ­lage and smal l scale industr ies.

The Study T e a m w i l l also con­sider the m i n i m u m industr ies pro­g ramme for a B lock and the role of panchayats , B lock Samit is a n d other local official bodies in the development of industr ies there in .

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A u g u s t 22, 1959

A I D I N G I N D I A N'S P R O G R E S S T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y