Cluster Identification for Micro & Small Enterprises in North East India: A case study on KVIC sponsored Village Industries in Assam

Although the primary occupation in the villages of India (Assam) is agriculture, its share is very low and there is high degree of under employment in Agriculture. So the village economy is leaning towards small industries, having backward linkages with urban areas. There is a growing trend of migration of people from the rural areas to the urban areas. Therefore, people with enterprising mindset need to come forward and undertake initiatives for establishing viable economic enterprises in the rural areas, which would create a number of direct/indirect jobs, apart from opportunities for self employment for the rural entrepreneur themselves. KVIC (Khadi and Village Industry Commission) India, under Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise, is an organization engaged in the task of promoting and developing environment friendly khadi and village industries, with the mission for creating employment opportunities in the rural areas, thereby strengthening the rural economy. This paper deals with knowledge discovery in databases, for KVIC scheme, namelyREGP of Barpeta, Jorhat, Kamrup and Nagaon districts of Assam (India), for the year 2002-2008. This is to identify and quantify distinct parameters, such as ‘pin code’, ‘industry/product choice’ etc., impacting the units setup under KVIC patronage. It is expected that the aforesaid parameters shall unfold vital collective and spatial attributes that not only define the rural industrial setting, but also help in identification of Cluster through data mining, for the purpose of establishing the common facility unit for village industry activity, in the state of Assam.