ABSTRACT
In 1921 over 33 million Indians, one tenth of the population, were dependent upon “Industries” for their livelihood, and about 16 million, that is one half of this tenth, were actual workers. Yet in the same year only 1,266,395 persons were engaged in establishments coming under the Factory Act. There are now perhaps eight times as many “industrialists” outside as inside the factories. While these figures cannot be taken as absolutely correct they show beyond doubt the very great importance of the so-called cottage, handicraft, or unorganized industries. Some of the occupations in this group would hardly be classed as “industry” in America. For instance there are three quarters of a million “sweepers, scavengers, etc.” and a large number of workers in personal service “trades,” such as the washermen (1,100,000), and the barbers, hairdressers and wig-makers (832,000). Yet the great bulk of these people make by hand articles which for the most part are produced by factory processes in the United States. They are employed, alone or with very few helpers, in their homes or in small workshops in countless villages and towns where they produce by hand generally for local consumption. Their work is essentially unorganized. Indeed so important is this matter of organization that in India the terms “organized” and “unorganized” are used to denote factory and non-factory industries.
