H e is literally a ‘mentor-on-wheels.’ Driving his car, an office-on-wheels, Jagat Shah, founder of Cluster Pulse, an economic development agency; Global Network, an international trade advisory forum; and Global Network Institute, an international trade training school, and also vice-president, United States-India Importers’ Council, and secretary general, China-India Trade and Investment Centre, is on a ‘Mentor on Road’ mission of understanding the climate in which the country’s small and medium enterprises function.
After covering 27 cities in 18 States in 65 days, Mr. Jagat Shah will present a report to the Prime Minister's Office, which will form the basis of future policies. On his recent visit to Madurai, Mr. Jagat Shah spoke at length toS. Annamalaiabout his mission, the education system, future of small and medium enterprises and the Make in India initiative.
The concern over unemployability of an overwhelming majority of graduates coming out of institutions of higher learning is tangible in him. Equal is the concern for SMEs, whose founders spend about 30 per cent of their time in liaising with the government. “In China, an SME owner spends an average of two per cent of his time in this endeavour and the rest is spent on taking care of the enterprise.” The Modi government, he says, is trying to streamline procedures and processes. He is confident that the initiatives rolled out by the new government for inclusive growth in its first year will show results in three to four years.
Gujarat model
Citing a World Bank report which says that only 15 per cent of Indian engineering graduates are employable, Mr. Jagat Shah favours the Gujarat model of making all of them employable. In Gujarat, final year students of engineering courses have to study the curriculum provided by the industry.
“If they pass the examination in the industrial curriculum, they are hired by industrial units.” His advice to young graduates is that they should be employers instead of employees. They should venture into start-ups, which hold a lot of promise. Start-ups will be more relevant in the context of Make in India. “Make in India is not a slogan. It is about SMEs and employment generation.” SMEs, more particularly rural industries, are mass employment generators.
Mr. Jagat Shah points out that the share of agriculture sector in the country's GDP has come down while that of the services sector has gone up in the last 25 years. But the share of manufacturing sector has remained more or less static, which is ‘jobless growth.” He sees a strong need to improve the share of manufacturing sector in GDP and Make in India will make it happen. “Manufacturing sector is the game changer,” he says. He sees a lot of potential for industrial and business growth in the southern districts. “But, world over, businesses are moving to new models.”
According to him, the future of business is in online trading, especially for textiles, auto components and consumer goods. “We are now information technology makers. But we should become IT users.”
Mr. Jagat Shah wants the Indian industry to spend more on research and development, especially market research, to scale up its presence and performance.
