Coming from the Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Giriraj Singh, birthday wishes for Congress president Sonia Gandhi were accompanied with advise of cooperating in the parliamentary process and keeping irrelevant matters aside.
“My wishes to Sonia Gandhi on her birthday, but she should have a more positive attitude,” Singh said.
Speaking during a workshop on role of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) in skill development, Singh went ahead to slam opposition parties for disrupting Parliament proceedings over National Herald funds misuse case.
“Ruling and opposition factions are the soul of democratic structure, but the current opposition is inclined towards supporting negative matters. Government has nothing to do with the Herald case, but Congress still dragged the matter to Assembly,” Singh said.
The opposition is more critical than creative, he blamed. He also called for deliberations over redefining parameters for classifying social minorities, instigating debates anew over the question.
“Certain groups are termed minorities everywhere without considering what part they constitute in the populace of a particular region. There is a need to restructure the definition of minorities on the basis of geographical boundaries,” Singh said.
On India entering into bilateral talks once again with Pakistan, Singh assured that the talks will not interfere with security forces holding off advances made on the nation’s border.
“Efforts to improve relations with Pakistan were started by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the same has continued in present times. The talks are unconditional, and as far as what is happening on international borders, any advances made are being answered appropriately,” he said.
The Minister of State also strongly criticised the recent practice of returning awards over claims of growing
intolerance. He branded it a well-thought conspiracy of opposing parties to defame the country.
On promoting khadi and other small-scale enterprises by skill development, Singh said, “Infrastructure for skill development are being brought up across the nation. For rural enterprises, we need to prepare villages for producing and consuming locally produced merchandise. Moreover, as of now, khadi has not been user-friendly with the young generation. But we need to change the aspects of khadi based on their tastes.”
“There is a need to add value to the items produced by the rural enterprises. Technology has to be attached to small yet common practices prevalent in villages. If work is done on these aspects in a phase-wise manner, we will soon be able to bring up the 2.5 per cent of skilled populace to 70 to 90 per cent, at par with develop countries,” Singh added.
He also shared plans of Department of MSME to play the role of facilitator by joining with ITIs in every district of the State. “Khadi is being dominated by bureaucracy, but it should be given back to the villagers who are actually the ones working for it. KVIC should be connected to villages, with its scope extended in an integrated manner. Soon, khadi will not be isolated from mainstream market,” said Vikas Bharti Secretary Ashok Bhagat, who also happens to be a KVIC member.
“Good quality agricultural produce is abundant in Jharkhand. Additionally, 40 percent of the rural populace comprises of artisans. If a fraction of the attention given to industries is diverted to small enterprises, it will be helpful in providing self-employment opportunities to the youth of the village,” stated Jharkhand Khadi Board Chairman Jainandu.