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The leather industry utilizes hides and skins which would, if the industry did not exist to process them, create an enormous waste disposal problem with the attendant health hazards. Leather is a renewable natural resource - if leather was not produced, it would have to be replaced by synthetic materials derived from non-renewable resources.
In The Historical past, the socially wealer section of the society carried our
flaying, tanning and curing of raw hides and skins and leather making
activities were mainly confined to especial communities in rural India. The
growth of the leather industry has impacted rural development and
Socio-Economic growth through contribution to employment generation and
enterpreneuringship. The Leather Industry was originally a household industry
and traditional techniques were adopted in this sector during Pre-Independence
period for processing and fabricating leather products.
Prior to Independence raw hides and skins procured mainly from the fallen
animals and these hides were principal stock for tanneries in village, the
good hides and skins procured from slaughter house and other like sources were
exported. A Traditional raw hides trader, in the course of time, became tanner
and tanning skills were passed on from generation to generation. Over a period
of time, Industrial type of production system emerged and lot of changes, particularly
specialization in flaying, curing, tanning and manufacturing of leather
products emerged.
Leather is used in a wide range of products from children's shoes, where it is most important for foot health to oil seals in aircraft. Leather makes a contribution to the quality of everyday life and has done so for centuries. Virtually everyone wears or
users one or more leather products on a regular basis.
The primary sources of raw material for the tanning industry are hides and skins from animals that have been accepted as fit for processing for human consumption at approved slaughterhouses, where the handling and treatment of cattle fully meets the appropriate animal welfare and hygiene requirements.
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