Prevalent Economic Activities and Business Clusters

1. Traditional Weaving: Residents of Akalpoush have been engaged in weaving of "Khadi" fabric for generations. However, the entire activity is based on a co-operative structure, where the weavers enter into a contract agreement with the co-operative to supply them with the hand-woven textile in lieu of their labour costs. The co-operative, in turn, exports the fabric to different parts of the country to generate profits and, as a result, the weavers are assured of their payment in exchange of the risk mitigation done by the co-operative. [Read more here]

The labour rates are usually Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 per bale of cloth depending on the quality of the weave.

2. Agriculture: Akalpoush is situated in the heart of Bardhaman District, known as "The Granary of Bengal." Most of the residents are engaged in direct agriculture and have been so for generations. The popular crops grown in Akalpoush are rice, pulses, potato, oil seeds, sugarcane, and vegetables like potatoes, beans, snake gourds, radishes and onions.

The fertile alluvial soil of Bardhaman along with the well established agro infrastructure and expertise gathered over generations has resulted in direct reliance on agriculture for the residents. However, this also results in the lives of the villagers being directly impacted by seasonal variations of the monsoon. Interacting with the farmers, we understood that the recent floods in West Bengal has had a significant adverse impact on their produce.

3. Cottage Industries: Making rakhis, paper packets, pottery, embroidery work, and sweets, are the major cottage industries here. These are mostly run by women folk, operating out of their own homes.

4. Agro-processing Industries: There are a few cold storage buildings for potatoes, fish, and poultry, as well as rice and sugar mills close to the village. 5. Textiles: There are multiple shops in Akalpoush that sell garments made in-house. There is also a microenterprise, named Anwar and Sons, which dyes threads and sells them at retail value.

6. Kirana Stores: There are a few shops like telecom recharge shops, barber shops, beauty parlours, sweet shops, grocery stores, and a shop selling tea and snacks, that also provide employment.

7. Transport: Some villagers own vehicles like the Maruti Omni, which they rent out as taxis. Some own trucks and work with transport companies. 8. Formal Employment: A sizeable chunk of residents of Akalpoush have migrated to Kolkata as well as other parts of the country to take up formal employent in sectors such as ITeS and BFSI.

The presence of adequate educational infrastructure in Bardhaman and the neighbouring Hoogly district and what is seen as the high prospects of service sector jobs in Kolkata has encouraged this migration. On the other hand, other factors like uncertainties associated with farming, declining profits, and rapid industrialization have also added to the outward migration. 9. Migration: While education has enabled the younger generation to focus on varied job opportunities across the nation, we have also observed that migration of landless farmers as labourers to metros, specifically Kolkata, Delhi, and Mumbai is a recent development.

A sizeable chunk of residents have migrated to Gujarat and Maharashtra and are involved in crafting jewellery of precious metals.

However, even with the presence of these seemingly varied business clusters, most residents are engaged in direct agriculture. Lack of skilled labour, low employability, and low population density has resulted in lack of any noteworthy industrial clusters in and around the village.

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