Every individual is a center for the manifestation of a certain force. This force has been stored up as the resultant of our previous works, and each one of us is born with this force at our back.
Swami Vivekananda
Arriving in Kolkata, Mentor On Road started an
energetic day by sharing multiple views with the members of Bengal Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (BCCI) in Kolkata. I shared actual success and failure
stories of Skill India, Clean India (Swachh Bharat), Digital India, Smart India
(Cities) and the innovative inter linkage across all the five initiatives. With
over 300 members from all walks of industry, trade and commerce representing
various parts of East India, the BCCI has become the first port of call on
matters of Central and State Government policies and legislation.
During the dynamic interactions
that Mentor On Road had with the members of the BCCI, several vital issues,
including financial and taxation aspects, affecting the regional MSME’s (Micro
Small and Medium Enterprises) were discussed.
Mentor On Road next moved on to the
Federation of Small and Medium Industries (FOSMI) where an animated interaction
with the members was held. I shared numerous insights on innovative approaches
to global markets. FOSMI members raised a variety of issues connected to
production, technology, finance, marketing, exports, excise problems, GST, labor
laws, land acquisition difficulties, lack of skilled and efficient manpower,
IPR and innovation.
Last of all, Mentor On Road had a
sector specific interaction with ELMA - the Electronics Manufacturers
Association in Kolkata
which works towards the common cause of development of the electronics industry
and better service to end users.
ELMA which comprises of only
manufacturers as its members was urged by Mentor On Road to go for digital
marketing and avail the range of benefits under Make In India and SMILE (SIDBI
Make In India Loan For Enterprises) funding scheme which provides soft loans in
the nature of quasi-equity and term loans on relatively soft terms to MSMEs.
This loan scheme's focus is on 25 sectors under the government's Make in India
program with emphasis on financing smaller enterprises within the MSME sector. I
also shared with them a number of technology partnership opportunities with
foreign companies.
Mentor On Road is currently on
way to the handloom cluster of Shantipur in Nadia, in the interior of West
Bengal where I had arranged funding for 2,000 handloom weavers 5 years ago and
will be reporting back today on the developments there.
These handloom weavers make
cotton and silk handloom saris such as Shantipur, Jamdani, Tangail, besides
making stoles, scarves and dress materials. There are about 20,000 working
looms and 60,000 persons involved directly / indirectly in weaving and
preparatory activities. The women basically undertake the preparatory works
like separation of hanks, sizing, pirn winding. There are around 111 different
weaving communities namely the "Pramanik" , "Kastha" ,
"Dalal" , "Khan" etc. etc. Majority of the weavers belong
to Tantuvay community. All the weavers have good weaving skills for weaving saris
on Jacquard looms. The average earning of the weaver family is in the range of
Rs. 1500 - Rs. 2000 per month.
Great work requires great and persistent effort for a long time. Character has to be established through a thousand stumbles.
Swami Vivekananda
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