Bhubaneswar: The Odisha office of Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Monday organised an interactive session with Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium, Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Pratap Chandra Sarangi on impact of Covid-19 on MSME and Animal Husbandry sector.
The session gave an idea about continuing the efforts towards nurturing entrepreneurship in Covid-19-hit India and how to overcome the challenges. During the session Sarangi resolved various queries of the participants.
During his deliberation, Sarangi said that due to the spread of the pandemic in the country all physical meeting and exhibitions are more or less avoided. In this situation, the Centre is in the process to provide e-Market access to the sellers and various platforms are in process of development for this purpose.
On labour issues, he said that the government is developing the database of the migrant labourers of various states and once it is completed the same will be shared with industries. This will be a sustainable solution to labour shortage issues. He also said that companies can open their franchise to interested parties to enhance their reach to the places where it is not feasible for them to operate. This will not only enhance their business but also will be helpful to generate employment.
During the discussion, members of ICC Odisha State Council and panelists of the meeting requested Sarangi for Central support which could be helpful in the revival process of Covid-19-hit industries like MSMEs. The demands include timely funding from banks and NBFCs as per recent guideline of 20 per cent additional loan to their existing clients, loans to small business houses who have never availed loans from any financial institutions, timely payments to the SMEs from PSUs and PSUs to place maximum possible orders for MSMEs for their survival and growth.
The minister interacted with around 50 to 60 women entrepreneur members of ICC Women Entrepreneurs Committee (IWEC). He resolved various queries of women entrepreneurs as well as provided information regarding additional benefits which can be availed by women MSME entrepreneurs.
Replying to a question on fisheries sector as to whether there is any way to increase domestic consumption of fish and shrimps to enable more self-reliance in this sector, Sarangi said, “Shrimp and fisheries industries should come up with more competitive pricing for the time being to encourage more consumption and sales. The government is also taking steps to encourage export of seafood.”