MP gives MSME-DI staff a piece of his mind

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 26

Shwait Malik, member of the Rajya Sabha as well as the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry, today gave the staff of the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development Institute (MSME-DI) a piece of his mind. He asked them to pull up their socks and come out of their cocoon as the institute was meant to impart knowledge about industrial policies and schemes to beneficiaries not only in Ludhiana but in the entire state. Malik said he would be regularly reviewing reports in this regard.

Malik was in the city to visit the MSME-DI and interact with industrialists from the state. Industrialists from the city expressed their satisfaction over the working of the institute but certain industrialists, who had come from other parts of the state, said they were not even aware of its existence.

“The MSME-DI should come out of its cocoon. It is a flower and it should spread its fragrance equally. The institute is not meant for Ludhiana district alone but for the entire state,” he said  

He instructed the staff to regularly interact with the industry in other parts of the state by personally visiting them. “Quarterly visits should be arranged and interactions held to discuss their problems. I will be personally reviewing the reports of all work done and visits made,” he said.  

Malik said the government was laying stress on skilled manpower. “At present, India has only 3.6 per cent skilled labour in comparison to Korea which has 96 per cent skilled labour. Our focus is to train manpower and see the fourth industrial revolution coming to India. This is the reason why the Skill Development Ministry has been formed separately by the Centre and a fund of Rs 10,000 crore allocated to it. It has set a target to produce 5 core skilled labourers this year as compared to 2.36 crore last year,” he said.

Malik added that he had proposed to review the parameters for defining micro, small and medium enterprises and very soon, these would be revised and the industrial policy renewed.

 To uplift the industry in the state and to revive sick units, Malik said they would be giving subsidies to the new entrepreneurs and stress would be laid on research and development, so the existing units could match up to the international standards.

‘Too much dependence is harmful’

When one of the participants said they were aware about “Google” and Internet and the department should train them in basic information technology, Malik said too much dependence is also harmful. “Like one should be aware of his/her own rights, in the same way they should know about these basic things. They can learn it from their grandchildren or children who are making use of the technology. The department will not spoon-feed you. If you want to move ahead you also have to make efforts,” he said.