India cannot depend upon big industries for employment generation, and has to focus on medium and small enterprises (MSMEs) as not only can they create job opportunities, but also benefit the deprived sections of society from where they derive most of their workforce, RSS joint general secretary Krishna Gopal said here Friday. Gopal was addressing an event organised by Laghu Udyog Bharati, an RSS wing focused on MSMEs. The event also had Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union Minister of State, Law, Arjun Ram Meghwal in attendance. “This model of big industries is fine for some sectors. But we have to think about 134 crore people. We need a new model. And that model can only be provided by MSMEs. Big industries do not have a share of more than 3% in industrial jobs. About 90% of industrial jobs are provided by MSMEs. If we have to create jobs in the future, looking at our population and situation, we will have to focus on and create policies for MSMEs,” he said. The RSS leader also said that India’s situation was different from industrialised countries of the West, as 58% of India’s population was dependent on agriculture, with about 60 crore people having a very meagre source of income. He said the big industry model had forced people to migrate to cities and lead miserable lives in slums. “India produces 15 lakh engineers every year. But a large number of them don't have jobs, because we do not have enough industries. We have to find a way to train these young men and make them part of the workforce,” he said. Gopal also suggested that this model was incapable of dealing with the problems of hierarchy and reservations in Indian society. “Our society has peculiar social conditions. The Constitution has dealt with these. But the Constitution can’t create jobs. Most of the jobs created by MSMEs actually go to the socially and economically deprived people. About 24% of the women workers at MSMEs come from the SC, ST and OBC groups. MSMEs are contributing to social transformation,” Gopal said. Suggesting that jobs reserved for deprived sections were decreasing as overall government jobs were decreasing, Gopal said, “Vaishnawji is sitting here. Railways are increasingly outsourcing jobs. For example, the cleaning of the Railways is outsourced. Once you outsource, you can’t guarantee reservations. Someone has to fill that gap now… So MSMEs have to keep in mind that they have to focus on the socially deprived.” Gopal also batted for a protectionist regime for MSMEs. “The government is reserving some sectors for MSMEs, but people say there should be competition. If there is competition, how will anyone compete with Tata, Birla and Ambani? Today, even a shoe brush is being sold by a big company. Do we need that? Do we need a branded brush to clean the toilet? Even a spade is being manufactured by Tata. How will we give employment to all this way? Some local workmen or MSME can easily manufacture these products. So, we need reservation for unbranded products,” Gopal said. He also suggested there was a conspiracy to defame MSMEs, and recalled the controversy around mustard oil being contaminated with argemone, causing the dropsy disease. He said this led to so many small oil mills being shut down. Underlining an urgent need to fund ways to employ such people who had not studied much, Gopal said it was important to have lower expectations from the government. “Laghu Udyog Bharati has identified 44 districts where young men who have not studied much can be trained to increase their employability. Expecting everything from the government, society is not strengthened. Your only expectation from the government should bethat law and order remains fine, and that it brings such laws and policies that help industry. Everything else has to be done by society,” he said.
