President Pratibha Devisingh Patil presented the National Awards to the successful micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and also to the Banks for Excellence in Micro and Small Enterprises Lending on Tuesday.
Congratulating all the winners of the National Awards, the President said that she was “Confident that this will encourage them, as well as other MSME enterprises to scale new frontiers. ... they are engines of growth providing employment to almost 60 million people, making it the largest source of employment after the agriculture sector”.
The President urged MSMEs “To constantly look at ways and means to be more productive, as also adopt better quality controls. In this context, I believe that it is important to address the concerns and constraints of the sector through a constructive approach, so as to realise their robust growth and development, a vision that traces its legacy to the Father of the Nation and our first Prime Minister”.
The President called upon the MSMEs, especially of the traditional sector to employ cost effective technologies, especially in sectors like the coir industry, which employs about 5.5 lakh persons, many of whom are women in the coconut growing states of the country.
She further added, “It is undeniable that technology and innovations are game changers, being the key determinants of increasing productivity through improvement in skills, better capital equipment and better systems”. Urging the banks to give special attention in providing credit to MSMEs, the President said, “Availability of adequate credit is paramount to the success of the micro and small enterprises. It must be kept in mind that it is the vulnerable unorganised enterprises which are still perceived as risky by financial institutions, and suffer the greatest constraint in access to credit, because of the very nature of operations, especially of the traditional cottage industries. Timely financial support is absolutely essential for their survival, failing which they face the threat of extinction. I urge banks to give special attention to this aspect.”
Speaking on the occasion, Dinsha Patel, minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises, said, “MSME sector, including Khadi and Village Industries, has shown continued dynamism in terms of growth in number of enterprises, production, employment generation and overall contribution to the country’s manufacturing output and exports. It constitutes the breeding ground of entrepreneurship, often driven by individual creativity and innovation’’.

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President to visit Leh today
AGE CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi

In the aftermath of the cloudburst in Leh region earlier this month, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil will visit the affected regions of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday and assess the ongoing relief and rehabilitation works.
An official statement said that the President will tour the affected areas and meet the people at the relief camp.
“The President will also be briefed by civil and military officials about the relief and rehabilitation operations following the cloudburst earlier this month,” the statement added.