If we start training programmes for youth in rural areas we can retain them. They have been a significant contributor to the national income, with their huge involvement in country’s industrial production, particularly exports.
They not only help in providing employment opportunities to millions of people across the country – especially to the village artisans and rural skilled workers – but also curtail the problem of economic concentration in the hands of a few. Thereby, they create a sound entrepreneurial base in the economy by developing/nurturing the talents/skills of small and medium scale entrepreneurs.
Without question, such MSMEs have huge potential both in terms of creation of employment and encouraging the growth of related sectors. And these MSMEs can certainly play a significant role in the global value chain by enhancing their productivity, technology upgradation, quality improvement, skill development, access to both domestic and international markets, and the like.
If the agriculture sector picks up, certainly the agro-industries would grow and so would the service sector simultaneously do so through MSME options. When dispersed industrial progress takes place in rural areas, other service sectors like housing would start to thrive, thereby creating business for construction industries.
This in a way can emerge as one of the options for development of MSMEs. In fact, there is a growing necessity for such a promotion of ‘chains of industries’ even in rural areas and the government must create appropriate enabling policies to so that MSMEs can turbo-charge India’s inclusive growth process just as China/Japan and other countries in East Asia have done in the past.
The contribution of MSME to the economic growth of the country should therefore be recognized well by the planners/policymakers. In India, these enterprises account for almost 45% of manufacturing output, 95% of the number of industrial units and 40% of exports. Clearly, they are the engines of (economic and inclusive) growth.
Besides, the sector provides employment to almost 60 million people – including women and vulnerable/marginalized sectors of society thereby making it one of the largest sources of employment (due to the failure of agriculture sector) in India.
Besides, this sector has the capacity to generate significant economic activity in rural areas, as it typically uses local raw materials/skills and often, provides people with employment close to the areas where they live/work. Therefore, the rural economy cannot be isolated, but rather it should be integrated with other sectors of the economy to bring in rural prosperity at this juncture when the overall rural situation is gloomy. And MSMEs can certainly play a crucial role acting as a vital link between the rural economy and industrial sector.
As the MSME sector creates a majority of the country’s new employment, the approach now would be to focus mainly on developing an attractive and supportive climate for its development. Despite its commendable contribution to the nation’s economy, MSMEs continue to face many challenges.
However, they still remain an important source of growth and development because of the vital role that they (MSMEs) play in job creation. Therefore, the government should take the initiative to understand the dynamics of this sector by developing it further and providing it the necessary support by undertaking initiatives that can lead to its burgeoning growth and development.