Author(s):
1. Kasturi Hazarika, India

Abstract:
Inspite of a rich heritage of craftmenship, Assam still remains economicaly backward, compared to other parts of the country. There is very little entrepreneurial activity that takes place in this part of the country. Assam has a glorius tradition of handloom and handicrafts. Handloom weaving is a way of life in Assam, with almost every household owning a handloom. In fact it is their prized possession. While cotton, muga, pat and endi are common fabrics widely used for weavng. Images or caricatures of animals, human figures, creepers, flowers, birds, cross borders are favoured motifs embroidered on these handloom products. The potential of the handmade, handloom and handicrafts, have always been enormous. If the handicrafts sector is tapped fully and potentially, it would lead to manifold advantage of the state. Firstly, it would create employment thus helping many to have access to a sustainable source of livelihood. Secondly, it would bring out the artistic creativity of the artisan, along with a source of income, thus infusing in them with a sense of pride and dignity. This would encourage more and more people to develop entrepreneurial skills, in order to reap the benefits of the above mentioned advantage. According to planning and development experts, locational disadvantage, dearth of transport and communication facility, low credit absorption capacity of the local people, lack of visionary outlook of the local political leadership and social unrest are the major impediments towards economic development of the region. Viewing from the cultural point of view, handloom and handicrafts form a part of the cultural heritage of our country, which if not preserved would soon fade away in oblivion. This paper would look at how the development of micro and small entrepreneurship could be a powerful strategy for poverty reduction in Assam. It draws in lessons from commercially successful cases of entrepreneurship (in the handloom and handicrafts sector) from other parts of the country. With an indepth assessment of the various aspects, which have been adding to the backwardness of the North-East region, the paper attempts to have a better idea about the factors contributing towards the regions economic backwardness. Difference between poverty reduction and poverty alleviation finds special mention in this paper. That poverty alleviation is only a short-term improvement of the poor’s capital endowment. Poverty reduction is long-term elimination of the poor’s dependency on social relations and of vulnerability with respect to changes in their environment. Poverty reduction implies sustainable alleviation of poverty through creating gainful employment and livelihood; and creation of micro-enterprise through micro-credit, is a potent tool for poverty reduction, because it enables entrepreurial poor to undertake income generation activities among the youth and women, thus making them self-reliant and self-sufficient. Thus through this paper an attempt is being made to derive policy implications to strengthen entrepreneurship development of micro and small enterprises as a strategy for poverty reduction.

Key words:
Entrepreneurship, Poverty, Livelihood, Employment, Development, Policy, Self-reliant,

Date of abstract submission:
22.01.2014.

Conference:
REDETE 2014 - Researching Economic Development and Entrepreneurship in Transition Economies