ABANTI KUNDU Pattern of Organisation of the Handloom Industry in West Bengal PART ONE COTTAGE and small scale industries, of which handloom weaving is an important constituent, constitue an integral and continuing clement in our economic structure and framework of national planning. This sector is not to be viewed in isolation and as a static part of the economy, but rather as a dynamic and efficient decentralized sector which, on the one hand, is closely integrated with agriculture and, on the other, with large scale industry* This principle was the basis of our plan period policy formulations which were designed to bring about adequate improvements in the sector through different development schemes and programmes. It was only during the second plan that the employment objective of traditional village cottage industries was fully recognized. The second plan accorded a high priority to industrialization, particularly to the development of basic and heavy industries, for attaining a sizable expansion in the national income. It was expected that investment in basic industries would create demands for consumer goods, but the block up of scarce capital in basic and heavy industries would, at the same time, restrict financial allocation for consumer goods propuction. Also, the capital intensive modes of production of large scale manufacturing would absorb comparatively less manpower. Therefore, in an effort to