Srinagar, Feb 19: Speakers from the business community at a day long awareness programme impressed the need for developing cluster approach for enhancing productivity of small enterprises.
The speakers called upon artisans of Kashmir to work together in clusters.  The programme on ISO 9000-Reinbursement Scheme and other schemes was held at Indian Institute of Carpet Technology (IICT) here. Representatives of some business organizations said the need of the hour was that the artisans must work in clusters.
The awareness programme was organized on Wednesday by Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Institute (MSMEDI), government of India, in association with IICT, Srinagar. 
Giving presentation on Micro and Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP), Zubair Ahmad Mir, director IICT, said cluster approach was the key strategy for enhancing productivity and competitiveness of small enterprises. 
He said by working in clusters, artisans could avail benefits of various schemes of the government of India. He insisted upon artisans to come forward and take advantage of these schemes. “The aim of these schemes is to benefit you people. But the initiative has to come from your side,” he said.  
He said it was not necessary to form big clusters, “but even 10 or 15 people can also form clusters.” 
Mir explained various steps involved in CDP to the artisans besides deliberating upon scope of the scheme.
He said the maximum cost of the CDP project was to the tune of Rs 10 crore, of which 80 per cent shall be funded by the government. “The expenditure of the activities for capacity building of the cluster, like trust building, workshops / seminars, market development, etc, shall be Rs 10 to 35 lakh, where as that of setting up of common facility centre, testing lab, design centre, etc, Rs 4 to 5 crore per project,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Ashwani Kumar, assistant director MSMEDI explained various aspects of the ISO 9001/14001/HACCP Certification Reimbursement Scheme, including eligibility criteria and formalities. 
He said the government was keen to help the artisans vis-à-vis marketing of their products.
 “Artisans can hold stalls anywhere outside the country, like Germany, Britain, etc, of which 50 per cent expenses would be bore by the government and 75 per cent of one-time registration fee shall be reimbursed,” he said.
Kumar also threw light on objectives and working of the MSMEDI and explained many schemes to the artisans. He said the MSME sector over the years had been contributing significantly to industrial production, export and employment generation.
Senior vice president, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Abdul Hameed Punjabi, said the chamber was ready to support artisans, but only in clusters and not individually.
He said people from different areas in the Valley could form their respective clusters.
He said the government of India had formed the Ministry of MSME to bring artisans together, who otherwise were widely scattered throughout the country with no coordination at all between them.
He said it was important for artisans to know what benefits government had in store for them. “For instance, artisans shall get life and health insurance covers in this scheme and they should be knowing it. Government is offering several facilities to them, of which they should take the benefit,” Punjabi said.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:00:00 IST