The Mentor-on-Road project is an initiative to create a network of experts and small and medium-scale enterprises, especially those in tier-two and tier-three cities and towns, said Jagat Shah, chief mentor for the programme.
Mr. Shah, who was here recently as part of the project, told The Hindu that 35 cities were covered under the programme and he has visited 17 cities so far in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Except Kerala and Goa, the other States had well-developed manufacturing sector.
However, unemployment was nil in Goa. While some States have grown in the service sector others have done so in agriculture or manufacturing.
Under the Mentor-on-Road programme, city mentors will be appointed and they will be supported by the Union Government. Small and medium-scale enterprises and start ups need mentoring more than finance or market assistance.
“We are creating a network of mentors. We are creating city mentors and connecting them to government mechanism.
Initially, the service will be available free of cost to beneficiaries,” he said. A similar model has been implemented for the coir cluster at Allappuzha under a World Bank- funded project.
The project started on May 4 and it includes partners in different sectors.
Stakeholders
The objective is to have expertise from various fields.
During his visit to the 17 cities, there were some common problems highlighted by the stakeholders in all the States and some issues were specific to the cluster.
The common needs are: more loans for SMEs from banks, lower interest rates, early sanction of loan, technology assistance and manpower availability. In some clusters in Tamil Nadu, power supply is a challenge.
Business facilitation
The programme is business facilitation by private sector as done in developed countries. It however, requires the support of the State Governments too so that all the issues faced by the SMEs can be addressed.
