Agra footwear units feel neglected

The footwear industry of Agra, comprising largely cottage units, is feeling ignored.

The president of the Agra Footwear Cottage Units Federation, Virendra Son, said both the central and the state governments were providing numerous economic and developmental packages for industries in the country, including the leather industry, but the cottage footwear units, consisting of the bulk of footwear manufactures in Agra, had been left out.

The footwear industry of Agra, which represents 60-70 per cent of the total domestic production of footwear in the country, is largely dependent on family-run cottage footwear units functioning in the narrow streets and alleys of the old city.

These cottage units, which feed the entire local shoe industry, are constantly facing a financial crunch due to a credit-based system of payment.

Son said even the UP government appeared to be ignoring the demands of the cottage units and its reluctance to start the units like Leather Export and Marketing Corporation (LEMCO) established for the welfare of the cottage units indicated that the government policies had no place for such small industrial units.

This deliberate ignorance of both the central and the state governments to develop a policy for the cottage units was resulting in the shutting down of a large number of cottage units.

According to Mr. Son, a delegation of the federation had recently met Mr. Anwarul Haq, member, Central Planning Commission and demanded that a special package should be prepared for the cottage leather units of Agra by the central government as it had prepared for the other small "� scale industries upon which, Mr. Haq has assured that the Planning Commission shall ask the state government to conduct a survey of the cottage footwear units in Agra and submit a report to the Commission in August, to help formulate a special economic package for the Agra cottage units.