April 17,1970 this directive has failed to improve matters for the small-scale units. Government departments continue to plaoe orders on industries outside Bihar. The Union Minister of State for Industry, A P Sharma, lamented at a meeting at Arrah on March 20 that "the progress of small industry in Bihar has been very sluggish; today the number of small units in the state constitutes only four per cent of the country's figure. The turnover of the state small industry ia barely 3 per cent of the country's output in this sector".