February 10, 2020
Banglashree and Karma Sathi to further promote the MSME sector
The 2020 Bangla Budget has opened up new avenues for employment for the youth. This has been done primarily through the introduction of two schemes – Banglashree and Karma Sathi. While the former focusses on creation of more micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), the latter aims on providing soft loans to the unemployed.
In recent times, when the country as a whole is reeling in an economic crisis and has seen a 45-year-rise in unemployment due to the negative policies of the NDA Government, Bangla has seen a 40 per cent dip in unemployment as a result of the pro-people policies of the Maa-Mati-Manush Government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Efforts to further bolster the State’s employment scenario have been undertaken through the policies adopted in this year’s State Budget.
MSMEs on the upswing
The State Government has put special focus on the development of the MSME, as it provides maximum employment. In fact, based on the latest National Sample Survey (NSS) report, which says the State currently has 88.67 lakh MSME establishments, the Central Government has acknowledged that Bangla is number one in the MSME sector in the country. During the last eight years, the number of MSME clusters in operation has grown from 49 to 539.
The infrastructure for small industries has also seen tremendous growth. At present, 52 MSME Parks are operating, and 39 more such parks are under construction. The Budget has allocated Rs 200 crore for establishing another 100 MSME Parks in the next three years.
Banglashree
With these statistics in mind, the government has introduced a new incentive-based scheme for establishing more MSMEs, named ‘Banglashree’, which will come into force from April 1, 2020.
The MSMEs which started operating from April 1, 2019 will also be eligible for this scheme. Through this scheme, more and more MSMEs will be established and huge employment will be generated. Rs 100 crore has been allocated for Banglashree for the financial year 2020-21.
Karma Sathi
With the objective of giving further impetus to the MSME sector, another scheme is being introduced from the next financial year, named Karma Sathi. It intends to make unemployed youth self-reliant. Under this scheme, every year for the next three years, one lakh unemployed youth will be provided soft loans and subsidies amounting to upto Rs 2 lakh per person for taking up new income-generating projects.
The loans will be provided by State owned cooperative banks. This assistance will enable them to take up small manufacturing or trading activities and through these, help them become self-reliant. Rs 500 crore has been allocated for Karma Sathi for the financial year 2020-21.
