MSMEs powering Indian economy. Image courtesy maritimegateway
To remain future-ready, MSMEs must equip themselves with a workforce that has the right set of skills. A well-skilled workforce always plays a crucial role in gaining a competitive edge in today’s competitive market. Out-of-the-box thinking and new-age skill sets always help an organization boost productivity and remain ahead in terms of revenue generation. As the majority of the skills are sector-specific, workforce skills act as a major driver of productivity growth for MSMEs at the sector level. Structured work-based learning such as dual-training programmes and apprenticeships impacts the productivity of the participants, positively. It depends totally on the employer to design the programmes in such a manner that the workers get sufficient time for classroom training and on-the-job training, maximizing the benefit for the organisation.
In a welcome step, the government has understood the global significance of the MSME sector and termed it an “Important Policy Priority”. During her speech, while presenting the interim budget for 2024, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam noted “It is an important policy priority for our government to ensure timely and adequate finances, relevant technologies and appropriate training for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to grow and compete globally.” With the visionary approach of our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and his commitment to make India a developed nation by 2047, the focus must be on the MSME sector, as it has the potential to generate maximum job opportunities and contribute maximum to the economic growth of our country. Priority to the training initiative to remain ready for global competition is a forward and positive-looking approach by the government. An annual budget of Rs.22, 137 has been allocated to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) ministry for the financial year 2024-25 which is the same as the previous year. The government has also introduced a couple of more reformative steps like Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) and Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) that help to address vital issues such as delayed payments for MSMEs. The government has also introduced an extension to the non-tax benefit up to three years in case of an upward change in the status of an MSME.
Skills such as developing new products and analysing data, based on the demand of the market are something that small enterprises should always work on. It is a well-known fact that the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise sector is adaptive and agile. If this sector wants to play a major role in the country’s economic growth and position itself as a leader then the need is to train and reskill all of the existing workforce along with hiring fresh skilled talent. With an updated skill or rather a skill that helps the organization to drive important factors relevant to their business these workers would certainly take an organization to newer heights. A special emphasis should also be laid on creating a culture-driven environment accompanied by innovation, within an organisation. For the 2.29 crore MSMEs that have registered themselves with the UDYAM portal. They must always come up with innovative ideas to develop new products and services or avail same services but with better customer propositions. The government’s initiative to train the workforce shows the bright future the sector has for the upcoming generation. It is a well-applauded step by the government as it has shown its determination and dedication towards the MSME sector and made India one of the strongest emerging economies in the global footprint in years to come.
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The author is Managing Partner, Areness. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.
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