GUWAHATI, March 19 - The North Eastern Small Scale Industries Association (NESSIA) has submitted its memorandum of suggestions to the NITI Aayog delegation for extension of NEIIPP-2007 for another 10 years.
It interacted with the delegation during the stakeholders� meeting that included representatives from the North Eastern States and industry bodies, which was held recently in the city.
NESSIA State president and general secretary Sailen Baruah and Kumud Medhi, respectively, while thanking the NITI Aayog team headed by its CEO Amitabh Kant for the initiative of the Centre for the development of North Eastern region through the new North East Industrial Policy, suggested a model of economic development based on local resources, and said that enhanced revenue could accelerate the growth of micro sector industries to create maximum employment opportunities, especially for rural youths.
�In Assam, 23 lakh people are unemployed. It is not possible for the government to cater to the employment needs of all the unemployed, but this problem can be resolved by setting up industries. The existing NEIIPP-2007 is not attracting micro sector industries as it was mainly for the big industries, whereas micro and SSI sectors are the largest employers,� Baruah said.
NESSIA emphasised that subsidy to the industries could be linked to employment of the indigenous local people. �Provision of employment is a must as per assurance of the State government and needs to be included in the policy so that no incentive under the policy is allowed to be claimed unless the employment criteria are fulfilled by the unit. A joint verification certificate from the respective employment exchange, DICC and local village panchayat, BDO, etc., should be made mandatory. There should be no extending of incentives/subsidy just for the sake of inviting industries,� he added.
Calling for scrapping transport subsidy, NESSIA reasoned that instead of transport subsidy, the same incentive amount should to be utilised for development of double railway track to Amingaon. It suggested that there should be a mandatory provision that at least 25 per cent amount of incentives should be deducted by the State Government for local area development from big and medium sector industries.
It further called for special incentives for revival of sick/NPA micro sector industries.
NESSIA also emphasised on development of tourism, hospitality, food processing and agro-based industries in rural areas under the micro and SSI sectors.
