Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy on Tuesday minced no words to criticise the bureaucrats in the territorial administration and also banks for adopting a discouraging stand towards entrepreneurs intending to start industries in the Union Territory.
Inaugurating the Start Up summit 2019 organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, he criticised the banks and said that instead of encouraging young graduates to start their industrial units, hefty sums are made available to big shots who make a flight by night. “I am really pained to see how the young industrial aspirants are left in the lurch because of time consuming procedures on the part of the banks in extending loans,” he said.
Mr. Narayanasamy also made a scathing attack on the officials concerned with delay in processing applications from young graduates to start units in Puducherry. “The applicants would lose all zeal and enthusiasm at the end of the grilling questions the officials pose to them,” he said and wanted the officials to show a change in their mindset.
He said that the government on its part had unveiled a start-up policy and necessary assistance would soon be extended to the young graduates to go in for research projects.
The Chief Minister said that the government had already initiated steps to upgrade the government-run Pondicherry Engineering College into a technological university. The Agricultural College in Karaikal and the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Veterinary Education and Research (RIVER) would be integrated and upgraded into a university.
The law college here would soon be upgraded into a law university. “We have the right environment and all top functionaries including the Lt. Governor, Chief Minister, Ministers, Chief Secretary and secretaries are easily accessible. This picture of accessibility can hardly be seen in any other State in the country,” he said.
He specifically asked the banks to implement the MUDRA scheme evolved by the Prime Minister in letter and spirit so that the targeted sections benefit without any hassles. Mr. Narayanasamy appealed to the private-run engineering colleges to encourage research propensity of the students instead of running the colleges for commercial benefits alone. He said that during his recent visit to Singapore along with Industries Minister M. O.H.F. Shahjahan, a number of private entrepreneurs there had evinced interest to start industrial parks, IT parks and a Greenfield airport in Puducherry through Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
A joint approach by government, banks, CII and other stakeholders is necessary to tap talents of the young graduates passing out of professional colleges and arts and science colleges, he said.
PWD and Industries Minister M. O. H. F. Shahjahan, who spoke on the occasion, wanted the banks to help young graduates and ensure that unemployment was tackled through self employment projects. Puducherry had an unemployment rate of nine percent. Once banks perform their roles effectively, a big change can be brought in the lives of the youth who could become job givers instead of being job seekers, he said. Chief Secretary Ashwani Kumar, Education Secretary A. Anbarasu and M. Kalaiichelvan, Chairman, CII, spoke.
