With the Budget Session under way, many industries are hoping that Government allocations would be substantial enough to boost the Industry. TEAM AVENUES looks into the impact extra funds will have on the job market this year
E-Commerce initiatives
With Start-up India and Digital India getting a push from the Government, expectations for the same in this year’s Budget are also positive.
“The roll out of excellent initiatives like Start-up India and Digital India by the Government is a step in the right direction. We are hopeful that such campaigns will convert to strong economic growth and increase in overall consumption. We hope that the government will continue giving thrust to various reforms in this sector in the Budget 2016,” Kiran Murthi, CEO, AskmeBazaar.com says.
He also tells you that as an e-commerce brand, with proud association with millions of SMEs across India, we hope the Government will present a futuristic tax policy that will address the complications of current tax structure. We hope that the GST roadmap will be shared in the budget for FY 2016-17.
“Finally we look forward to an ecosystem devoid of red-tapism, paving the way for greater ease in doing business and creating the ground for innovation and entrepreneurship,” Murthi says.
Policy regulations in the start-up ecosystem like tax exemptions and ease of compliance will allow entrepreneurs to focus their time and energy in building their business by reducing the unnecessary administrative burden.
Premlesh Machama, MD, Career Builder India says: “We are at the cusp of an exciting time in the start-up environment. We expect the Government will also look into a definitive plan of setting up incubators and accelerators which play an important role in the development of start-ups and act as a guiding force to steer start-ups’ growth in the right direction.
“We also expect a major boost for the e-commerce segment from the upcoming segment. The Government should allow 100 per cent FDI in e-commerce to help the investor ecosystem in India mature faster and facilitate strategic investments from foreign investors,” Machama tells you.
Need to get realistic
Real estate is a sector that requires a considerable push from the Government, especially in terms of Budget allocations. Taxes related to property need to be addressed to create some level of ease in the industry.
“It has been under a lot of stress since the past two years which could be alleviated by reducing the taxes related to property which accounts to 30-35 per cent of the cost. The property and service tax should be levied after occupancy. Taxation on pre-fabricated structures should be done away with to ensure speedy construction,” E Jayashree Kurup, head, content & research, Magicbricks.com says.
Further, it can be linked to the issue of pollution currently plaguing the nation. She also says that the Government should put in a plan to incentivise non-polluting methods of construction and waste management and a penalty system for polluters.
Incentivised timeline should also be created for speedy approvals or deemed approval system for housing. The Government should also look into creating a fund for capacity building at citizen levels to be partners in creation and use of smart cities. These will lead to creating more jobs in this sector.
Be in fashion
In terms of textiles and fashion industry, there are many ways in which the Government can address these sectors through the Budget and allocation of funds in the correct places. Focus needs to be shifted to the farmers who are cultivating crops like cotton and special funds need to be kept aside for more R&D in this industry as well.
RC Dalal, executive director, JD Institute of Fashion Technology lists some of the expectations from this year’s Budget:
· Enough fund should be allocated for research and development in textile.
· Better agricultural needs for cotton should be provided.
· Steps should be taken so that cotton farmers get subsidy and support for growing best cotton.
· Fashion industry should be recognised so that Indian fashion can travel abroad and new markets can be developed for exports.
· Institutions like JD Institute and NIFT should be given enough support so that they can utilise maximum use of the resources.
· Special focus should be given on the handicrafts of India and also weavers in the North-East creating jobs.
Manage it better
The current trend is that it is the engineers who are becoming entrepreneurs. However, they do not possess the necessary managerial skills to become successful entrepreneurs. For this, there need to innovations in the field of skill development as a whole.
“Since the Government wants to focus on skill development and entrepreneurship, it should focus on building institutes which provide skill development and training, better research and development, communications etc which will create skilled labour and entrepreneurs. This will lead to job creation as well as job creators. These institutes must be set apart from the existing IITs and IIMs. Or existing institutes can be allocated funds for building up the infrastructure for this purpose,” associate prof finance Ashutosh Dash, MDI Gurgaon, says.
Recruitment Rules
The Ministry of Skill Development feels that all other Ministries and Government departments must reduce the ambiguities in their recruitment drive conducted for trade specific posts. It also wants the recognition of National Apprenticeship Certificate (NAC), being imparted under the Apprenticeship Training Scheme (ATS) of MSDE, as qualifying criteria for such posts.
Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge) stated: “It is imperative that everyone gets an equal opportunity to get skilled and get placed across organisations. This move will ensure that the NAC candidates get an equal chance which is important for them.”
MSDE has requested the Ministries and Government Departments to make amendments in their recruitment rules, if required, to address the said issues.
This move will ensure that while framing recruitment rules, it should be taken into account that National Apprenticeship Certificate (NAC) is a higher qualification and should be considered for the vacancy posts having minimum entry qualification as National Trade Certificate (NTC).