MSMEs have in unison urged political parties to include them in poll manifestos for the upcoming UP assembly elections
By VIRENDRA SINGH RAWAT
LUCKNOW, Dec 22 (The CONNECT) - The beleaguered micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) have in unison urged the political parties to include the agenda of industry in their manifestos for the coming UP assembly elections.
The parties have started respective campaigns to woo voters, and soon their election manifestos will be announced. The document will articulate their commitments to the voters for achieving the overall growth of the poll bound state.
“This is an opportune time to apprise the political leaders of our expectations, which could be incorporated in the manifestos,” MSME chamber Indian Industries Association (IIA) national president Ashok Agarwal said in Lucknow.
With this objective, the IIA has prepared a mini charter of demands seeking benefits for the MSME sector, which serves 50 percent of the UP’s population.
“We intend to submit our proposals directly to the presidents of political parties as well as through the media, so that it reaches their manifesto drafting committees,” Agarwal observed.
For records, UP is top ranked in terms of the number of MSME units with 14.2 per cent share. The total number of MSMEs in the state is estimated at 9 million, employing more than 16.5 million people.
Therefore, the sector directly supports the livelihood of 25 million families, while generating indirect economic activities as well. “We can say that the prosperity of almost 50 percent of the state’s population is directly linked to the prosperity of the MSME landscape,” the IIA chief pointed out.
He lamented that while the government was attracting investment from big industries, the indigenous investors had been left in the lurch.
Among the main demands of the MSME body is a liberal government procurement system from the MSMEs, converting industrial leasehold to freehold, rationalising property tax on industrial plots, allowing investors to directly negotiate with landowners in industrial corridors, abolition of mandi tax, promoting green energy for industrial use etc.
