Highlights of the First Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship

The Government of India has recently unveiled the first National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015 in order to empower the younger generation. The policy aims at providing various support for development of Entrepreneurs who will drive job growth and for the development of a skilled workforce to create “Skilled India”. In this article, we mainly look at the support for Entrepreneurship extended through the policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015.

Educate and Equip Entrepreneurs

Educating and equipping of potential and early stage entrepreneurs across India has been identified as a main area of support in the policy for skill development and entrepreneurship. To achieve this mission the Government has proposed for the development of a world class education curriculum in Partnership with Global Experts on Entrepreneurship.
The curriculum for Entrepreneurship will help the Entrepreneur acquire the skills needed to start and manage a business. The course will is proposed to be delivered to all potential Entrepreneurs through a blend of online and experimental learning methodology at no cost. Therefore, the Government envisions that the course will be setup as a Massively Open Online Course which can be taken as and when needed by Students and Business People alike. In  addition, entrepreneurship  education  will  be  integrated  into  the  mainstream  curriculum  in  nearly 3,000  colleges  around  India and delivered at Industrial clusters across the nation through 50 nodal Entrepreneurship Hubs (E-Hubs).

Connect Entrepreneurs to Peers, Mentors, Incubators

Connecting Entrepreneurs with Peers, Mentors and Incubators as been identified as key focus area in the Policy for skill development and entrepreneurship. The policy has proposed the creation of a web and mobile based technology platform for connecting young  entrepreneurs  and students with other entrepreneurs, business owners, mentors incubators, funding agencies and basic service providers.
Entrepreneurs will be able to logo and connect to each others through this Entrepreneur’s social network. In addition to helping Entrepreneurs network, the social network will also allow provide information about government services and provide information required for running a business.

Support Entrepreneurs through Entrepreneurship Hubs (E­Hubs)

The policy for skill development and entrepreneurship 2015 has proposed the establishment of a national network of Entrepreneurship Hubs (E-Hubs). E-Hubs will be setup as a national network comprising of one national, 30 state, 50 nodal and 3000 college based hubs. The aim of these E-Hubs will be to align Government and Inter-ministerial coordination to improve Entrepreneurship Effort with industry trends and promote flagship programs like “Make in India“, Smart Cities, Skill India, Digital India, Green India and Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan.

Catalyse a Culture Shift to Encourage Entrepreneurship

The 2015 policy for skill development and entrepreneurship will aim to create a cultural shift in India and promote Entrepreneurship at all levels. The policy aims to achieve this objective by inviting keynote speakers to share best practices, creating internship opportunities and exchange trips for Indian Entrepreneurs to global Entrepreneurship hot places like Silicon Valley and Israel. In addition the policy has proposed the creation of Brand Ambassadors to champion Entrepreneurial Culture in India and awards young Entrepreneurs.

Encourage Entrepreneurship among Underrepresented Groups

Special focus will be given for the inclusion of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, minorities, differently abled and regionally underrepresented areas including large part of Eastern and Norther India in Entrepreneurship programs. The policy has provided for prioritized delivery of entrepreneurship education programs to the underrepresented groups and operation of mobilization drives to enroll underrepresented members in the online entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Further, the policy also proposes the creation of a pool of experts to promote entrepreneurship and act as mentors for these underrepresented groups. In addition, its proposed that access to Government supported testing facilities and infrastructure be offered to these groups at a subsidized rate.

Promote Entrepreneurship amongst Women

The 2015 policy for skill development and entrepreneurship has promised special Efforts for the encouragement of women entrepreneurship in India through appropriate incentive for women owned businesses under the public procurement process. This will include providing mentorship and support system for women entrepreneurs in existing business centres and incubators along with access to capital at relaxed credit terms.

Improve Ease of Doing Business

Improving ease of doing business in India has been made a main area of focus in the 2015 national policy for skill development and entrepreneurship. The policy proposes the following steps for improving ease of doing business in India:

• Creating a business friendly environment with easy entry and exit procedures to encourage entrepreneurial  activity.
• Introducing Unique Enterprise Number (UEN) that a new enterprise could use for various  registrations including taxes, labour laws and social security.
• Introducing an online Composite Application Form (CAF) that will help entrepreneurs file  a single application for obtaining all approvals and clearances from various government  authorities.
• Encouraging  States  to  strengthen  existing  ‘Single  Window  System’ with  a  High  Power  Committee empowered to give all necessary clearances for setting up a business.
• Converting  the  present  District  Industries  Centres  (DICs)  into  Business  Development  Centres  (BDCs)  with  an  objective  to  provide  technical  and  procedural  handholding  support and counseling to pre-­start­up, nascent, early start up and growth ventures.
• Permitting  flexibility  to  startups  in  ‘hiring  and  retaining’ workforce  for  operational  adjustments and rationalization during the first three years of operation of an enterprise,  assuming that by the end of three years it will either stabilize and grow or become sick  and close down.
• Allowing  easy  exit to  enterprises if they have been in operation for less than three years.  Such enterprises will be facilitated to close their operations, if not found viable, within a  period of three months. Creation of Special fast track court to expedite the process  of closure of such firms.
• Considering tax incentives to new and existing entrepreneurs.

Improve Access to Finance

The 2015 national policy for skill development and entrepreneurship has proposed to reinvigorate the  flow  of  credit  to  deserving  entrepreneurs. The policy proposes the  following  interventions  to improve access to finance for Entrepreneurs:

• Ensuring that credit delivery norms are met by financial institutions without compromising  the quality of the projects submitted for credit.
• Strengthening venture capital companies in quasi-­public sector by infusing capital through  equity participation.
• Incentivizing Angel financing by providing appropriate rebates on capital gains made by  investors.
• Promoting a ‘rescue’ culture by revisiting bankruptcy rules and facilitate counseling and  advisory service to troubled firms by appropriately addressing legal status.
• Encouraging  national  and  state  bodies  viz.  National  Scheduled  Cast  Finance  and  Development  Corporation  (NSCFDC),  National  Minorities  Development  and  Finance  Corporation  (NMDFC),  National  Backward  Classes  Finance  and  Development  Corporation  (NBCFDC),  National  Schedule  Tribes Finance and Development Corporation (NSTFDC) to provide credit to micro enterprise startups launched by their target population.
• Explore  the  possibility  of  setting  up  a  National  Fund  for  the  unorganised  sector,  as  recommended by the National Commission for Enterprise in the unorganised sector in  2007, to hasten the process of achieving inclusive growth of entrepreneurship.
• Encouraging and support financial institutions to develop innovative micro­level financial  tools to enhance investments in micro ventures. Further, they would also be encouraged  to  increase  lending  in  rural  areas  through  self­help  groups  and  innovative  microfinancing.

Foster Social Entrepreneurship and Grassroots Innovations

The 2015 policy for skill development and entrepreneurship has identified social enterprises as an important business instrument to address the issues of poverty, unemployment and inequity in society, through socially oriented business innovations. Therefore, the policy will encourage  universities  and  academic  institutions  to  launch  a  course  on  ‘Social  Entrepreneurship’,  including  through  online  distance  education,  to  actively  promote social  entrepreneurship in the country. Further, a social  capital market place will be promoted by offering fiscal incentives to  attract investors and make provision for funding support under a separate scheme(s) like social venture fund, to facilitate social entrepreneur’s access to credit.
The policy has also proposed the creation of grass­root technology innovation  hubs to harness the innovation potential of grass­roots innovators. Also, the policy aims to promote and encourage grassroot innovations and assist innovators to commercialise  and up­scale their products and services. through the national network of E­Hubs and  other  platforms.