Proposal to constitute National SC & ST Hub under MSME Ministry

On April 14, 2016, India will celebrate the 125^th birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, and in the words of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, “this must become the year of economic empowerment for SC/ST entrepreneurs”

Manisha Choudhari| The Dollar Business  

On April 14, 2016, India will celebrate the 125^th birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, and in the words of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, “this must become the year of economic empowerment for SC/ST entrepreneurs”. This time last year, the Telangana government was being lauded for their efforts in training Dalit youth to become entrepreneurs, and as revealed by Jaitley in the Union Budget speech earlier today, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) entrepreneurs are showing great promise in the starting and running of successful businesses, and are becoming job providers rather than job seekers. To encourage the continuation of the same, the Union Cabinet has approved the ‘Stand Up India Scheme’ in order to promote entrepreneurship among SC/ST and women, and has allotted Rs.500 crore to this project. This initiative is expected to benefit at least 2.5 lakh entrepreneurs. Based on interactions with, and inputs from the Dalit India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI) on building an ecosystem favouring entrepreneurship, the government has proposed to establish a National Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Hub in the MSME Ministry in association with industry bodies. The aim of establishing this Hub is to provide support to SC/ST entrepreneurs professionally, and help them adopt the best international business practices, fulfil the obligations under Central Government procurement policy 2012, and give weight to the aforementioned Stand Up India initiative.  As per data from the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, out of all the enterprises in the MSME sector in 2014-15, 7.83% of the enterprises were owned by SC entrepreneurs, 5.76% by ST entrepreneurs, and 41.94% by entrepreneurs of Other Backward Classes. According to DICCI Chairman, Milind Kamble, the Hub will become a “match-maker” between government agencies and suppliers, as the former complained that it had no access to Backward Class entrepreneurs.  

February 29, 2016 | 06:00pm IST