FOREWORD MESSAGE, PREFACE, TEAM OF OFFICERS

MESSAGE

PREFACE

TEAM OF OFFICERS

B.S.Minhas
Secretary,
Government of India,
Ministry of Small Scale Industries and
Agro & Rural Industries

MESSAGE

Ever since the Hon’ble Prime Minister made the announcement in August 2000 of conducting a fresh Census of small-l scale industries, it has been the constant endeavor of the Office of the Development Commissioner, Small Scale Industries (DCSSI) to conduct the Third All India Census. Finally, the planning stage was concluded in July 2002 with the preparation of action plan and finalisation of methodology for the conduct of Census.

The Census was launched in October 2002. Information was collected from about 22.62 lakh-registered units and 1.67 lakh unregistered units identified on sample basis in about 19766 selected villages and urban blocks. The data processing has been taken up using Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) Technology.

The Final Report of the Census will be useful to the planners and policy makers. I am extremely delighted with the overwhelming response and cooperation received from the State/ UT Directorates of Industries (SDIs) and the Small Industries Service Institutes (SISIs) during the conduct of Census. I thank all the officers and staff involved in this gigantic task. I specially thank Shri Suresh Chandra, Additional Secretary & DC (SSI) and Dr. C.S.Prasad, Additional Development Commissioner and their team of officers for the relentless efforts in making the project a success.

New Delhi
__ March 2004

(B.S.Minhas)

The Small Scale Industrial (SSI) Sector is a vital constituent of the total industrial sector. It is a dynamic and vibrant sector of the Indian economy. The sector acts as a nursery for the development of entrepreneurial talent and has been contributing significantly to the National Gross Domestic Product besides meeting the social objectives including that of providing employment opportunities to millions of people across the country. Statistics pertaining to the sector play an important role for policy formulation on credit, marketing, technology, entrepreneurial development, and infrastructure development.

 2. 

The Office of DC (SSI) has conducted two Censuses of Registered SSI units so far. The last Census was conducted in 1990-91 for the units registered up to March 1988. Thus, the available data on the Sector had become very old and needed updation through a Third All India Census of Small Scale Industries. The idea got the approval of the Study Group headed by Dr. S.P. Gupta, Member of the Planning Commission. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry also recommended that the Ministry of Small Scale Industries should work out fool-proof mechanism to ascertain the actual number of units in the small scale sector. The matter was then considered and approved by the Group of Ministers under the Chairmanship of Shri L.K. Advani, the Hon’ble Home Minister. Finally, on August 30, 2000, the Hon’ble Prime Minister announced the decision to conduct the Third Census while inaugurating the National Conference on Small Scale Industries at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The relevant excerpts from the speech of the Hon’ble Prime Minister are given below: -

“The last Census of Small Scale Industries was conducted 12 years ago. For effective policy-making and implementation, we need to update our data. Therefore, we have decided to go in for a fresh census that will cover, inter-alia, the incidence of sickness and its causes. I request industry associations to cooperate with the census authorities so that a true picture emerges.”

 3. 

Consequent to the decision of the Central Government to conduct a fresh census, a Steering Committee under the Chairmanship of Secretary (Small Scale Industries) was constituted by the Government to decide upon all aspects of conducting the Third Census. The Steering Committee constituted two Sub-Committees. The Technical Sub-Committee was headed by Dr. N.S. Sastry, the then Director General & Chief Executive Officer of the National Sample Survey Organisation. The Administrative Sub-Committee was headed by Shri S.K.Tuteja, the then Additional Secretary & Development Commissioner (Small Scale Industries). The Sub-Committees meticulously examined all the relevant aspects and gave excellent recommendations on the modalities and methodology for conducting the Census.

 4. 

The most important aspect in the Third Census was the manner in which the sample survey has been designed to study the hitherto unknown field, i.e., the Unregistered SSI Sector, simultaneously with the complete enumeration of registered SSI units in such a way that the two data sets become additive and give an overall picture of the SSI sector. The scheme of Third Census also included measuring sickness and its causes. The latest definition on Sickness given by Kohli Committee appointed by the Reserve Bank of India on sickness was put into operation in the Third Census. Besides, effective criterion for measuring incipient sickness was also evolved in terms of continuous decline in gross output for three years. Another important aspect was the recommendation to use advanced technology for designing and processing of data formats. In this age of information revolution, we cannot afford to wait for a long time to get the results. If we do so, there is a danger that the information will become outdated. In a dynamic environment that we are placed today, we need to use advanced technology to make the results available for policy makers expeditiously. In view of these considerations, the use of Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) technology was recommended. The advantage with this technology is that hand-written forms could be scanned and data extracted by the computerised equipment with a high speed. Surprisingly, the accuracy was found to be much better compared to the manual data entry method. The use of this technology in Third Census paved the way for bringing out, within a very short time, the Quick Results in August 2003 and the Final Results now.

 5. 

The approval of modalities and methodology for the conduct of Third Census was followed by a Conference of Secretaries (Industries) which was held on 5th July, 2002 at Vigyan Bhawan. This conference prepared the Action Plan and finalised the operational aspects for conducting the Census.

 6. 

The Third Census relates to the reference year 2001-02, field -work for which was conducted during November 2002 to June 2003 all over the country. The complexity of the job can well be assessed by the fact that there were about 25 lakhs units for which data was required to be collected without any statutory support. This also included the Sample Survey on Unregistered SSI Sector, which was taken up for the first time and conducted simultaneously along with the Census. Conducting a census of about 22.6 lakh registered units and a sample survey in about 19,278 villages/ urban blocks, to measure the structure of unregistered sector, is an important feature of the Third Census. Such a gigantic task was completed mostly through internal deployment of existing manpower resources without creating even a single additional post for the work. All these features may perhaps place this Census as the largest Survey of its kind so far taken up in the world.

 7. 

The first results, called ‘Quick Results’ of the Third Census were released in August 2003. Final results of the Third Census are being presented in this book. It is hoped that the results presented here will have utility for planners, administrators, academicians, industrialists, entrepreneurs and all other stakeholders in the promotion and development of small-scale industries.

 8. 

In my official capacity, I have been in touch with the State/ UT Governments and monitored the progress of Third Census on daily basis and I honestly feel that the Third Census could not have been completed but for the active involvement of many individuals and institutions, and their contribution needs to be recognised.

 9. 

First of all, I would like to thank all the members of the Steering Committee and its Sub-Committees for conceptualizing the survey, and devising the methodology, formats for data collection and tabulation plan. My special thanks are due to Shri B.S.Minhas, the present Secretary and Shri S.K.Tuteja, former Secretary in the Ministry of Small Scale Industries for their inspiring leadership during the course of the Census. The M/o Statistics & Programme Implementation gave us an excellent support in devising the methodology using the latest industry classification and product classifications and also provided the maps of selected urban blocks for the sample survey. I am grateful to all the concerned officers and staff, especially Shri M.Neelakantan, Dy. Dir. General, NSSO (FOD) and Shri P.H.Khopkar, Director, CSO. I also thank Dr.C.S.Prasad, Additional Development Commissioner and Shri Amir Subhani, Joint Development Commissioner for the strenuous efforts they had put in, in monitoring the various activities of the census, right from the planning stage till its completion. I thank all the officers and staff of the State/ UT Governments who took the task of completing the field operations of the Census with a missionary zeal. The Office of the Registrar General of India has been the guiding spirit in the use of ICR technology in the Third Census and I thank all the officers and staff, especially Shri R.G.Mitra, Dy. RG for the guidance and support. The feasibility reports submitted by the CMC and the NIC Cell attached to my office on the use of ICR technology helped in arriving at a quick decision in using the technology. The NIC Cell also supported us in validating the available lists of registered SSI units, which were used by the Enumerators in data collection. I thank the concerned officers and staff in the CMC and NIC for the excellent support and cooperation. M/s CS Software Enterprise Ltd, Hyderabad, designed and printed the data collection formats, and taken up data processing with the aid of ICR technology. I thank them for the highly professional service rendered by them. My special appreciation is due to all the officers and staff in the Census Cell of the Statistics & Data Bank Division, who have toiled very hard to make this Census a very big success. Finally, my hearty appreciation goes to Shri M.V.S. Ranganadham, Director (Census) who played a key role in the conduct of the Census. He was responsible for preparing the vision document for Third Census, which was used as the agenda by the Steering Committee and its Sub-Committees. He was also responsible for drafting the sampling design, methodology and all other technical material used in the Third Census including the report on Quick Results of the Third Census and this report.

New Delhi,
Date:

(SURESH CHANDRA)
Development Commissioner (SSI) &
Additional Secretary,
Ministry of Small Scale Industries