Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: Hailing the role of artisans and craftsmen in the development of Uttar Pradesh, the state Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath highlighted the need to improve the quality of products for a better representation of the state across international markets, as per a report by The Pioneer report.
In a Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and handicrafts award ceremony in Lucknow on Saturday, the Chief Minister said, ““The challenge we have today is to prove the superiority and originality of our products. We will be known worldwide once we start producing the best products with our 90 lakh micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) units. In this regard, we need to start giving our products’ quality, designing, and packaging more consideration.” The award function was organised on on the occasion of Vishwakarma Jayanti.
The CM honoured entrepreneurs, artisans and workers for their remarkable work in the MSME and handicrafts sectors at the event. Additionally, he also laid the foundation stone for flatted factories in Agra and Kanpur Nagar during the event, as per the report.
The award ceremony couldn’t be organised for the last three years due to the pandemic.
“People now have faith in the state, and investors from around the world are starting to view Uttar Pradesh as the right destination,” said Adityanath, adding that UP is now moving forward in the right direction today as a result of the combined efforts of artisans and craftsmen, the report noted.
He further said that the artisans had the necessary talents in the past but their products lacked timely packaging and design. Additionally, the government offered them no assistance and anyone who wished to take action was discouraged by the numerous restrictions placed on him, the CM added. However, the (current) government at present had taken forward all the programmes for handicrafts artisans through Vishwakarma Shram Samman Yojana, he added.
Referring to the state government’s two major schemes, the One District One Product (ODOP) and Vishwakarma Shram Samman Yojana, the CM noted, “We started giving training for enhancing the quality of the products as well as the design and packaging. We also arranged a fixed honorarium for the craftsmen during the training and also provided them with toolkits.”
The terracotta of Gorakhpur, brass products from Moradabad, glass work of Firozabad, perfume of Kannauj, locks of Aligarh, carpets of Bhadohi, crafts of Saharanpur, and the handicrafts of Varanasi has come to international attention due to the government’s schemes, Yogi said. He stressed upon the fact that Azamgarh, which was formerly thought to be a terrorist stronghold is now renowned globally for its black pottery.
Moreover, 40 lakh migrant workers who came back during Covid period became a man power for the state, rather than creating disorder, the report cited Yogi as saying.
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He stated that the worth of UP’s exports has nearly doubled from Rs 88,000 crore to Rs 1.56 lakh crore despite the novel coronavirus pandemic, in the past two and a half years and the MSMEs nowadays have become a sign of reliability, the report added.
Introducing the concept of new flatted factories in Agra and Kanpur, Yogi Adityanath said, “Time has come for the factories to take on a multi-storey form rather than having a horizontal land expansion. The flatted factories will be constructed as multi-storey plants in a single location.”