Incubation centre in each district to train Dalit entreprenurs: Giriraj Singh

An incubation centre each will be set up in all 13 districts in Uttarakhand to provide artisans skills training and technological support so that they are able to set up micro, small and medium enterprises, Union minister Giriraj Singh said Saturday.

“Common facility centres will also be set up across the state so that artisans could avail themselves of the facilities like marketing centres based on their respective trades. The MSME sector will help provide self-employment to the artisans pursuing their traditional trades,” Singh, the minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), said.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of the fourth State Conclave of the National SC-ST Hub, envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to augment self-employment opportunities for the members of the SC/SC communities.

Singh said that people have set up their enterprises under a number of schemes such as Mudra Yojna, Stand up India and Start up India introduced by the PM. “The main objective of organising national SC/ST conclaves is to ensure that the maximum members of Dalit community are able to set up their enterprises through MSME,” he said, adding that first such conclave was held in Punjab because that state has the maximum SC population.

“Ensuring economic upliftment of the Dalit community was the main objective of organising the conclaves,” he said.

In a veiled attack on the previous Congress-led UPA regime at the Centre, he said some political parties only exploited the Dalits as vote banks. “Such dispensations only cashed in on Dalit icon B R Ambedkar’s name,” Singh said adding, the BJP government at the Centre has initiated a series of self-employment schemes to ensure that Dalits are economically benefited.

Hitting back at the Congress for calling Modi a Jumlebaz (the one who makes hollow promises) he dubbed the allegations made by the Opposition party as baseless. The Modi regime, the minister said, had made it mandatory for buyers to purchase 20% of the production of the MSME units owned by the entrepreneurs belonging to the SC/ST communities.

Singh also urged chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to introduce such a provision in Uttarakhand.

The minister admitted that the fast growing population and the limited means were the problems coming in the way of resolving the problem of unemployment in the country.

He, however, said that the Centre had now planned to go beyond the agro-based incubation centres. “We are now setting up incubation centres for entrepreneurs trying their hands in sectors such as Ayurveda, yoga and wellness.”

Union minister of state for textiles and a Member of Parliament (MP) from Almora Ajay Tamta said the local artisans being landless were not able to set up their MSME units. He urged the CM to find some viable media so that artisans, who mostly come from SC/ST communities, could be provided land to set up their units.

Later, talking to HT he said that Rawat has assured him that wherever possible land would be provided to the SC/ST entrepreneurs.

Rawat, while speaking on the occasion, said the state government has “successfully initiated” a number of steps to encourage the people in rural areas to go for self-employment. “We will soon facilitate a scheme so that the local self-help groups could augment their income by selling the puja samagri (prepared by them) outside the state.”