Nagaland Industries and Commerce Minister I Imkong while speaking at the 47th Meeting of Small Scale Industries Board at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi said about the lack of development in the industrialization and technical aspects of the State. The Minister believed that the State would produce positive outcome if the State was to find a place in the industrial map of the country.
The Minister informed that unlike other State, which had been benefited from the liberalization policy through their existing strength in terms of developed infrastructures, trained manpower and congenial investment climate, Nagaland had not felt the impact of the policy. He regretted unrestricted access to Multi-National Companies (MNCs) and also for those liberalized imports which, more or less, killed whatever little industrialization had taken place in the pre-liberalization era. He further sought to pay more attention to the problems being faced by the SSI sector.
Imkong said the meager credit flow in the SSI sector in Nagaland, where CD ratio was only 18 per cent in comparison to the national average of 60 per cent. Despite Central Government’s direction to banks and financial institutions to bring up the CD rate at par with the rest of the country, there was hardly any improvement in the situation on the ground, the Minister disclosed.
The Minister also highlighted the enhanced PMRY target from 500 during 2001-2002 to 700 during 2002-2003, adding the scheme had given much needed thrust for self-employment of educated unemployed youth in the State. He also impressed upon the participants that the State Government was making serious efforts to improve the recovery of PMRY loans by revitalizing recovery machinery. Under the mechanism, the Government would publish beneficiary names and particulars of PMRY defaulters in the newspaper with 3 months’ notice. He has also urged to enhance PMRY target to 1000 during the coming year 2003-2004.
Minister expressed apprehension that unless special program was launched to provide self-employment to the youth the problem would continue to haunt. Conceding to the Recommendation of SP Gupta Committee to devise a liberal policy package for SSI sector incorporating both fiscal and financial measures in the Northeastern region, Imkong said it should be implemented immediately with more emphasis on creating quality infrastructure for manpower development in the field of engineering, management, computer sciences and other specialized courses. He also opined that such long term investment would help in sending qualified and trained manpower outside the State if they couldn’t be absorbed by local industries.
Recapitulating the 46th SSI Board meeting wherein he highlighted the problems faced by the Branch Office of the Small Industries Service Institute, Dimapur wherein despite the Institute providing useful services such as EDP training, assistance in preparing project profiles, feasibility and potential studies and extension services., ete., Imkong said the Branch remained woefully under-staffed. To ameliorate the office, he added that State government had already offered land free of cost at the DIC Complex, Dimapur, and further expressed hope to start the civil works during the current financial years 2002-2003.
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