Aatmanirbhar Bharat: In a bid to strengthen 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' post Coronavirus lockdown, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that Centre will address issues of SC-ST entrepreneurs regarding relief package announced earlier this month. She gave the assurance while interacting with the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI) through a webinar.  

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Speaking during the webinar with DICCI, Nirmala Sitharaman said, “DICCI is the voice of the ground level stakeholders, which we take very seriously. It has made a pioneering effort to bring forth the voice of the entrepreneurial segment of the community and have contributed immensely in policy formations.”

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Founder-Chairman of DICCI, Dr Milind Kamble suggested a series of measures to the government for SC-ST entrepreneurs to help them revive business after the lockdown. “From MSME’s to street vendors – all nano entrepreneurs have been taken care of with the Aatmanirbhar package announced by the government,” he said. Thanking the government for the MSME package, he also urged the minister to increase credit limit from 20% to 40% of turnover to meet the working capital requirements of SC and ST entrepreneurs during this crisis.

Ravi Kumar Narra, National Working President of DICCI, urged the minister to reintroduce the Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) plan to incentivize employers for generating new employment in the post-COVID-19 scenario. “ESIC should also be included under the scheme to incentivize both the employer and the employees. The scheme may be revived for another period of 3 years for the existing and new businesses,” he said. 

“Many SME start-ups have taken loans and were in various stages of setup when suddenly the lockdown derailed their process. If not supported at this juncture they will die, causing not just personal loss but a huge potential loss to the economy. Such start-ups should be identified and a special Start-Up Relief Package should be brought out to support them,” he added.

Following the Finance Minister’s assurance, DICCI has stated it will send its detailed proposals to the Ministry for consideration and implementation.