The Telangana government will extend all possible support to Dalit entrepreneurs to enable them compete with the global companies, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao declared on Friday. Participating as a chief guest at the inauguration of Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Dicci) Industrial and Trade Expo – 2015 here, the Chief Minister said there was a greater need to support entrepreneurs from the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities.
He announced that the Telangana government would provide one acre land for Dicci to set up an incubation centre in Hyderabad with an aim to boost Dalit entrepreneurship in the State and approved Rs 5 crore government support. “The government will also provide Rs 5 crore margin money support to Dalit entrepreneurs who struggle to meet margin money requirements while dealing with banks or financial institutions for want of loans,” he said.
He asked the Dalit industrialists to clinch every opportunity to come up in all sectors with zeal to see an increase in productivity and offer job opportunities to youth. “Earlier Dalits never got a chance to set up industries and the banks used to deny loans,” he said. He suggested to the Dalit industrialists to make use of Telangana website for any applications and get permissions within 11 days. He said the government had recently passed an Act for the Single Window Policy and was all set to introduce the policy very soon.
“The applications can be downloaded by the industry, filled and submitted through email. After the applications are received by the government, a protocol officer from the industries department will bring the entrepreneurs straight to the Chief Minister, and after reviewing the application, the government will persuade concerned departments and grant clearances/sanctions for land, water, electricity and other requirements in 15-days. We are making all the preparations to make the policy and the mechanism complete and refined.
We have right people in the right place to make this happen,” he said. The government, which has created an industrial policy to enable growth in multiple industries, is also taking measures to provide a suitable ecosystem for entrepreneurship. “The State will also provide skill development support to 200 contractors from the Dalit community. We will provide subsidy to these contractors. The government will provide three-month training with the help of National Academy of Construction, and will allot government contracts in irrigation, road & buildings, panchayat and other works in future.
We will also earmark 22 per cent of the government industrial estate lands for the SC/ST entrepreneurs,” he said. Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce & Industry minister, Government of India, said, “Centre is looking at the challenges faced by the small and medium enterprises particularly those run by Dalit entrepreneurs, in the matters of submitting collaterals to banks for seeking loans and will explore suitable solutions.”
Ravi Kumar Narra, president, Dicci South India, said, “We are emphasising on becoming job givers and not job seekers. We realise that connecting links with large size enterprises and the government is crucial for growth, without compromising on the quality. At State level, an incubation and skill development centre can be established to help Dalit entrepreneurs.”
Jupally Krishna Rao, Industries & Commerce minister, Government of Telangana, Bandaru Dattatreya, Union Labour and Employment minister, Milind Kamble, founder chairman Dicci, Adi Godrej, chairman- Godrej Group, Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD & CEO- Bombay Stock Exchange, Ravindra Nath, CMD- National Small Industries Corporation, Chandra Bhan Prasad, mentor DICCI were present on the occasion.
Source: Metro India