The draft National Entrepreneurship Policy, likely to be implemented in six months, has recommended creation of a permanent National Commission on Entrepreneurship to institutionalise entrepreneurship development in the country.
The proposed Commission would be on the lines of the Prime Minister’s National Skill Development Council (NSDC), with the PM as the Chairperson and Union Ministers of the ministries concerned, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, industrialists, young entrepreneurs and other stake-holders as members.
The Commission would seek to promote new entrepreneurs by spearheading a “national movement”. The Government, it proposes, would make adequate financial provisions on lines of NSDC to foster entrepreneurship development.
Pitroda backing effort
Drafted by the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI), Ahmedabad, at the instance of Dr Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister, the proposed policy is different from the one on MSME development in that it focuses on individuals, expecting them to become entrepreneurs.
The policy has been supported by the Union Ministry of MSME and IDBI Bank Ltd, Dr Dinesh Awasthi, Director, EDI, said while releasing the draft policy in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
The draft was recently submitted to Dr Pitroda and the Secretary, MSME, Government of India.
Need to create jobs
“We need to create jobs for 550 million youth who are likely to enter the job market in near future. The capacity of agriculture sector to create jobs is limited,” he said, while asserting that neither the Government nor the large organized industrial sectors can create so many jobs.
The proposed policy, although focusing primarily on innovative, nascent start-ups and growth-oriented entrepreneurs, also addresses the issues confronting self-employed micro entrepreneurs and under-represented groups with a view to making them more productive.
EDI is also planning to hold consultative meets in 14 major cities across India and invite experts and institutes to deliberate on the draft, Dr Awasthi added.