Guwahati, August 20: Mr M Sreenivasulu, Director of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise- Development Institute, Guwahati stated that Govt of India has earmarked around Rs 1,000 crore for implementation of various schemes for Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) for the North East region for the current financial year. While addressing a press meet held at it’s the Institution’s premise here today, Shri Sreenivasulu informed that MSMEs are significantly present in all States and Union Territories and are the second largest employer after agriculture in the country.
Shri Sreenivasulu said that inspite of the various welfare schemes being run by the Ministry of MSME, it has been found that there has been lack of awareness of the schemes upto the grass root level and this has prevented in the reach of the these benefits earmarked by Govt of India to the exact target group. The purpose of the press meet, the director said, is to make the people aware of the schemes and benefits being provided by Govt of India through the Ministry of MSME, so that more and more people get benefit of the schemes.
Shri Sreenivasulu said that his institute is primarily engaged in implementation of various schemes of the Ministry of MSME, Govt of India towards encouragement of self-employment amongst unemployed youths as well as promotion and development of MSME Sector in the region. The basic objectives of the schemes are to alleviate poverty and unemployment by setting up micro and small scale manufacturing, service or business enterprises. It also aims to develop existing MSME units to grow further by way of financial benefits for enhancement of GDP and export turnover of the country.
Shri Sreenivasulu enumerated the various development schemes for MSMEs which have been devised for inclusive growth and development across the country thereby reducing the regional imbalances. He also said that that the schemes of the Ministry are central sector schemes in which specific percentage of the budgetary allocation are earmarked for SC, ST and North Eastern Region’s population.
Shri Sreenivasulu took special mention of schemes like Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme (CGFS) and Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP). He informed that under CGFS, loan guarantees are provided to MSEs which in turn result in employment generation. While claiming PMEGP to be a very successful programme of the government, the director said that PMEGP is a major credit-linked subsidy programme aimed at generating self-employment opportunities through establishment of micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector by helping traditional artisans and unemployed youth.
The director, while speaking of the Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP), said that the central government not only gives financial assistance to clusters but also incentivizes development of infrastructure like setting up of common facility centres (CFCs), mini tool rooms, design centres, testing facilities, training and research & development centres. He also added that the government provides special incentives under various interventions to industrial clusters but in many cases they are not availed.
Shri Sreenivasulu ended his interaction with the hope that this kind of press interactions will go a long way in spreading awareness among the masses about the schemes and programmes, and more and more entrepreneur will come forward to avail the benefits of the government schemes under the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprise.
It is to be mentioned here that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise- Development Institute, Guwahati, established in 1958, promotes the development of micro and small enterprises in the states of Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh through 6 branch institutes – Tezpur, Silchar, Diphu, Itanagar, Shillong and Tura.
