Technically qualified-interns are being appointed in all local bodies to coordinate ground-level activities for the Industries department's campaign to aid the launch of one lakh Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the next one year as part of the entrepreneurship year programmes being organised by the State government.
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The Local Self Government department has now issued instructions to all local bodies to ensure adequate facilities for the interns, who will have a host of responsibilities related to the setting up of MSMEs in each local body.
The one lakh MSMEs campaign aims at generating 3 to 5 lakh jobs across the State. The Industries Department is coordinating with the local self government, cooperative, agriculture, fisheries, tourism and finance departments for the campaign. The primary job of the interns will be to create awareness among the local population about the campaign and provide initial support to the potential entrepreneurs, by addressing their concerns and giving them guidance regarding the processes involved.
Workshops will be organised at the local body level for this purpose. After the awareness phase, the potential entrepreneurs will be identified. Lona melas, license melas, and financial subsidy-related events will be conducted to aid the entrepreneurs in starting their endeavours. In the months following the melas too, the interns will be tasked with the responsibility of identifying the maximum number of entrepreneurs from each local body limit and giving them the necessary guidance and support. They will have to help the entrepreneurs with the various applications for licenses and loans, if required.
The government had also eased the licensing procedures for MSMEs that mostly have less than ₹50-crore investment can function without license for four years. Industries Minister P. Rajeeve had recently said 12,443 MSMEs started functioning in the past one year, with the State now placed 12th nationwide in the MSME sector, a ranking that the government was seeking to improve with the help of this grassroot-level campaign.