Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched the National SC/ST Hub here to provide support to entrepreneurs from the community.
Mr. Modi said that his “head hangs in shame” over incidents of atrocities on dalits that take place even after 70 years of Independence and called for more focused efforts to correct social anomalies. Citing the example of Guru Gobind Singh in raising his voice against casteism and untouchability, Mr. Modi said: “We know that due to our societal anomalies, hearing out some incidents targeting our Dalit brothers even today, my head hangs in shame. After 70 years of Independence, we cannot wait longer“.
At the launch of a National SC/ST Hub, he said: “We will have to sharpen the focus of our direction. The aspirations of a Dalit or an Adivasi exceed those of other youth in the country. If they get an opportunity they will not lag behind in changing the fortunes of India.”
Outlay of Rs. 490 crore
With an initial outlay of Rs 490 crore, the hub will work towards strengthening market access/linkage, monitoring, capacity building, leveraging financial support schemes and sharing industry-best practices.
It will also enable central public sector enterprises to fulfill the procurement target set by the government.
The Public Procurement Policy 2012 stipulates that 4 per cent of procurement done by ministries, departments and CPSEs will have to be from enterprises owned by SC/ST entrepreneurs.
The MSME sector, including the service segment, is a key driver of India’s economic growth as it contributes nearly 38 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employs close to 11 crore people.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech had announced the setting up of the National SC/ST Hub under the MSME Ministry.
